Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his slim-majority government are back on safe ground for now, after Malaysia's King on Wednesday consented to an emergency declaration that effectively postponed a by-election, amid the country's worst wave of coronavirus infections.

Analysts and political insiders see the King's agreement to delay the Dec 5 vote for the little-known coastal town of Batu Sapi in eastern-most Malaysia as a clear signal from Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah that snap national polls will not happen until the pandemic is subdued.