As the country approaches day five of a post-election political standstill, Malaysia’s King called a special conference between the heads of the country’s nine royal houses on Thursday.
Despite a hung parliament as a result of Saturday’s elections, the reformist Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition of longtime opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the Malay-Muslim Perikatan Nasional (PH) coalition led by Malay nationalist Muhyiddin Yassin emerged as the two largest blocs.
The National Palace announced in a statement on Wednesday that the extraordinary conference was called by constitutional monarch Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to get input from other sultans and help him decide on the leadership dispute “for the welfare and well-being of the nation and people.”
Anwar Ibrahim has been appointed as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister, putting an end to five days of political turbulence following the general election on Saturday that resulted in no coalition winning enough seats to form the government.
The constitutional monarch of the nation, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, declared himself pleased with Anwar and his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition’s ability to command Malaysia for the ensuing five years.
The palace announced that HRH has given his approval for the appointment of DS Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia’s tenth prime minister after considering the opinions of the other Malay rulers.
“HRH reminds all parties that the winners do not win all and the losers do not lose everything. Hence … reach out your hands to each other and come together as members of the Dewan Rakyat for the future of our beloved nation.”
DS Anwar Ibrahim will be sworn in at 5pm today.
