Parliament to choose next PM, or else Malaysia goes to the polls

The prospect of a snap election loomed larger for Malaysia after interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad revealed yesterday that no candidate has received the backing of a majority of lawmakers to lead the country.

Tun Dr Mahathir said a special parliamentary session will be held on Monday to vote on the matter and if there is no definitive result, then elections will be called.

He spoke after meeting the King, who had spent the previous two days interviewing each lawmaker to determine for himself if anyone had sufficient support in the 222-seat House of Representatives to form a government.

"The King has asked all MPs to make a statement... in front of him. The result is that he can't find anyone with a distinct majority. Since there isn't a distinct majority, he says the right forum would be the Dewan Rakyat," said Dr Mahathir, 94, referring to the Lower House of Parliament.

"If the Dewan Rakyat fails to find a person with a majority, we would have to go for a snap election," he added.

Malaysia's political impasse began on Monday, when Dr Mahathir resigned as Prime Minister and dozens of lawmakers from his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) left the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, leaving it short of the 112 MPs needed for a simple majority in Parliament.

The King made Dr Mahathir interim Prime Minister until a new premier and Cabinet is appointed.

Yesterday's announcement came on the back of moves by various political factions to consolidate their positions.

Former ruling party Umno and its ally PAS said they were mobilising for a general election.

The Straits Times understands that Umno had on Wednesday already summoned its divisional leaders to Kuala Lumpur for a briefing on election arrangements.

"As a party, the preparation for an election is something which must continuously be done," said Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa yesterday.

The two parties and their allies control 61 seats between them, and have rejected Dr Mahathir's proposal to form a unity government that could include their rivals in PH.

Meanwhile, PH leaders gathered at the Eastin Hotel in Petaling Jaya with their prime minister candidate Anwar Ibrahim, purportedly to discuss the possible return of three of the 11 PKR lawmakers who deserted the coalition on Monday. Their return would boost the coalition's lawmakers to 95.

A third group, comprising Dr Mahathir's Bersatu and the former PKR lawmakers led by Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, said they would nominate former home minister Muhyiddin Yassin as their candidate for prime minister. The group has 37 seats between them, and were allied to East Malaysia parties Parti Warisan Sabah and Gabungan Parti Sarawak, which have 27 wards in total and had pledged support for Dr Mahathir.

Senior constitutional lawyer Dominic Puthucheary said yesterday that the Constitution did not provide for the Dewan Rakyat to elect a prime minister from among its members. "The Dewan Rakyat is only the place to test whether a prime minister appointed by (the King) has majority support," he told news site Free Malaysia Today.