Malaysia’s Mahathir says he has enough support for top job, will work with Anwar again
- The caretaker premier says he has no intention of backing his party president, Muhyiddin Yassin, for the role of prime minister
- Anwar Ibrahim backs old rival, saying he chose ‘national interest over self interest’
The four-party alliance collapsed last week when Mahathir’s Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu) pulled out on Monday, prompting the 94-year-old to resign from the prime ministership he previously held from 1981 to 2003.
His latest act in the saga deals a major blow to the prime ministerial ambitions of the Malay nationalist leader Muhyiddin Yassin – the president of Bersatu – who on Friday night appeared to have solidified support to form a new government following days of leaderless turmoil in the country.
Support for Mahathir from his on-off rival Anwar, 72, is also surprising as the latter earlier this week wrote off further cooperation with the elder statesman for insisting on forming a “non-partisan” government that Pakatan Harapan politicians claimed would grant the premier “dictatorial” executive powers.
“This morning I had a meeting with leaders of Pakatan Harapan. I am now confident that I have the numbers needed to garner majority support in the Dewan Rakyat [Malaysia’s lower decision-making Parliamentary house],” said Mahathir in a statement early on Saturday. “I am therefore prepared to stand as prospective candidate for Prime Minister.”
