After failing yet again in PM bid, Anwar rallies opposition to prep for GE15

KUALA LUMPUR – Having failed to garner enough support to form the new government, the opposition’s focus is swiftly shifting to the next general election, which is due in less than two years.
 
In conceding to the appointment of Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the country’s ninth prime minister, opposition leader and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urged coalition leaders, members and supporters to accept the decision and, with tenacity, work even harder ahead of the next election.
 
This, he said, is to ensure they are able to recapture the people’s mandate that was originally given to them in the last election in May 2018, before PH was toppled during the infamous Sheraton Move in February last year.
 
“We take note that the decision (to appoint Ismail Sabri) is done in line with the federal constitution, parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy system that we are practising.
 
“For the opposition, this is a challenge for us to work even harder in facing the 15th general election,” Anwar, who is also PKR’s Port Dickson MP, said in a statement late last night.
 
“Let us all pray and work together to ensure the Covid-19 and economic crisis can be overcome immediately, for the sake of the rakyat.”
 
Yesterday, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong confirmed in a statement the appointment of Ismail Sabri as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister, following the resignation of his predecessor, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on Monday.
 
Ismail Sabri, who is an Umno vice-president and Bera MP, is scheduled to be sworn in at Istana Negara this afternoon.
 
He, however, still faces a vote of confidence in Parliament, as decreed by the Agong. The next sitting of the Dewan Rakyat begins on September 6.
 
The appointment was made after the king ordered all MPs to submit individual statutory declarations naming one lawmaker whom they wish to back as the next head of government.
 
According to the king, Ismail Sabri had garnered the support of 114 MPs, enough to enjoy the confidence of the majority of the Dewan Rakyat.
 
The king had also granted audiences to all the 114 lawmakers to confirm their position before chairing a special Council of Rulers meeting yesterday, ahead of his announcement of the new prime minister. – The Vibes, August 21, 2021