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Malaysia's New Prime Minister Narrowly Ousts the Speaker of its Lower House in a Test of Support

The move constituted a win for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin—but just barely.
Muhyiddin Yassin afp
In this file photo taken on March 09, 2020 Malaysia's Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, unveils his new cabinet members at the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya. Mohd RASFAN / AFP

For the first time in the history of Malaysia’s parliament, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday removed the speaker of the lower house in a move seen as a test of support for his fledgling administration.

Muhyiddin Yassin, who controversially came into power in March, replaced opposition-backed speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof as he sought to shore up support in the wake of the unorthodox transition from his nonagenarian predecessor Mahathir Mohammad, whose snap resignation threw the government into turmoil in February.

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Political analysts said Muhiyiddin’s slim victory on Monday—the 222-member house saw 111 lawmakers support his bid, and 109 oppose it—was an important test of whether his administration will be able to push through government policies. It came as parliament resumed after months of delay due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, as the lower house is known, is responsible for convening parliament sessions, organizing debates, and examining the admissibility of petitions, bills, and amendments.

“Unlike in the U.S. Congress, the role of speaker in Malaysia is not exactly a powerful position,” Malaysian political analyst Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, told VICE News.

“At the end of the day, it is the government that wields legislative power and determines what is brought to the floor. But still, it was a smart and safe [vote] for Muhyiddin to propose, and doesn’t hurt his position to have someone on his side like new speaker Azhar Azizan Harun [former chairman of the Elections Commission] to back him up.”

Muhyiddin, an ardent Malay nationalist accused by critics of stealing power through backroom deals rather than winning it at the ballot box, has been challenged by Mahathir and others in the opposition since he was sworn in on March 1.

He had pulled his ethnic Malay Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia party (PPBM) out of the then-ruling Pakatan Harapan alliance, triggering its collapse and precipitating the formation of a Malay-centric government that includes the party of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, currently on trial for corruption.

Oh said Muhyiddin’s path to the prime ministership, “while legal and constitutional, was slammed by many Malaysians as being morally reprehensible as it vacated democracy and the electoral choice of voters in the 2018 election.”

Monday’s vote was a close call for Muhyiddin, who Oh said is now “in a safe and strong position” thanks in large part to rifts in the opposition.

“Because if he had lost the vote, it would have shown him to be a weak leader without support,” Oh said. “The disputes between the ruling party and the opposition only give rise to the delicate political balance that is keeping Muhyiddin politically alive.”