Malaysia’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as the country’s ninth prime minister on Saturday, capping a week of political turmoil that forced his predecessor to resign amid a continuing health emergency because of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Ismail Sabri is a veteran politician from the country’s longest-ruling party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), but analysts say he is a stop-gap leader with little chance of ending long-running turbulence.
The 61-year-old was named prime minister on Friday after the collapse of Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration this week. He is Malaysia’s third new leader in less than four years.
Ismail Sabri is from UMNO, the main party in a coalition that governed Malaysia for decades after independence from Britain.
Relatively low profile for most of his career, he rose to greater prominence during Muhyiddin’s 17-month administration.
As defence minister, he gave daily briefings on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and was promoted to deputy prime minister in the administration’s final days.
His links between different factions may give the new government marginally stronger backing in parliament than during the chaotic Muhyiddin era, analysts say.
Bridge between different camps
Ismail Sabri is “a bridge between the different camps in Muhyiddin’s party and UMNO – the man in the right place”, said Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia expert from the University of Nottingham.
But his government is effectively an expanded version of the one that just fell apart – Muhyiddin and his allies are supporting him – and he has not been elected by the public.
The king picked the prime minister based on who commands the most support in parliament rather than going for an election for fear it could worsen the dire virus outbreak.
