KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (NNN-Bernama) — Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been appointed as Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister.
Ismail Sabri succeeds Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned on Monday from the post, as he no longer commanded the majority support in Dewan Rakyat (lower house of Parliament).
According to a statement from Istana Negara (National Palace) today, the appointment was made with the consent of Malaysia’s king Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
Ismail Sabri, 61, who was the former deputy prime minister in Muhyiddin’s cabinet, will be sworn in on Saturday afternoon.
The statement said a total of 114 members of the Dewan Rakyat had nominated Ismail Sabri for the post, hence he has the sufficient majority to form government. The house at present has 220 members.
Ismail Sabri is from UMNO, one of the leading political parties in the country and a member of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition that had ruled the country for the last 17 months.
Prior to the announcement of the appointment, a special meeting of the Conference of Rulers presided by Al-Sultan Abdullah took place at Istana Negara today to discuss the country’s current political issues, particularly in relation to the appointment of the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
— NNN-BERNAMA