(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad will seek an urgent parliament sitting to show that he has the majority support among lawmakers to be the country's prime minister instead of Muhyiddin Yassin, who was sworn in Sunday.
Mahathir, 94, reiterated on Sunday morning that he had the backing of 114 lawmakers, more than the 112 required for a majority in parliament. The nation's monarch on Saturday had picked Muhyiddin as leader after a week of political turmoil, which saw Mahathir first resign before trying to regain the premiership.
“The law says that the king may choose someone who is believed has the support of the majority as the prime minister,” Mahathir said to reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “But when that prime minister goes to parliament and parliament rejects it, then he cannot be prime minister. That is the law.”
Fresh Out of Power, 94-Year-Old Mahathir Plots Malaysia Comeback
The Pakatan Harapan government imploded last week, less than halfway through its term, after a power struggle boiled over and Mahathir stepped down. The king made him interim prime minister while trying to end the crisis.
What followed was a chaotic few days which saw political parties and lawmakers from the Pakatan Harapan coalition switch allegiances between camps that supported either Mahathir or his long-time rival Anwar Ibrahim.
Muhyiddin, who was in Mahathir's camp, became a contender when opposition parties agreed to back him. Mahathir had rejected some opposition support as he said it would mean working with “corrupt” individuals.
The Pakatan Harapan coalition then rallied around Mahathir once again on Saturday, in an attempt to counter Muhyiddin. But it was a little too late as the king made his decision later that day.
Parliament is set to convene on March 9.
“The next move for us is whether we can show we have no confidence in him,” Mahathir said Sunday, referring to Muhyiddin. “We are going to ask for an urgent sitting of parliament. At that urgent sitting, we will see who has the majority.”
While Mahathir claims he has the support of the majority of lawmakers, some that he listed late Saturday have since denied they are backing him.
Muhyiddin is backed by the Barisan Nasional coalition, which had ruled the country for six decades since independence before being ousted two years ago amid discontent over living costs and anger over the 1MDB corruption scandal involving former premier Najib Razak. Muhyiddin was Najib's deputy prime minister until he clashed with the latter over 1MDB, was dismissed and then expelled from their party. He later joined forces with Mahathir, and they succeeded in toppling Najib.
The political shift in 2018 was hailed as a new milestone for transparency, free speech and tolerance among various racial groups, including Chinese and Indians. The parties in the new government are supporting a more conservative agenda, including measures to promote the interests of the Malay majority and a stricter version of Islam.
Najib is facing dozens of corruption charges for his alleged role in 1MDB, which he has denied. With the old government back in power, Mahathir on Sunday said he had concerns of possible political meddling in the legal process.
Lawmakers including Azmin Ali, the former economy minister who left Pakatan Harapan amid the turmoil, were at Muhyiddin's inauguration on Sunday. Najib, who no longer holds a leadership position in his party, was absent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.net;Anuradha Raghu in Kuala Lumpur at araghu3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net, Shamim Adam
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