This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 2, 2020 - March 8, 2020

AS a week of unprecedented tumult in politics drew to a close, the question that was in the air was whether Malaysia would get a new government through horse trading among diverse blocs of influence or a snap election.

The week began with the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government on Monday when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad shocked the nation by quitting as the prime minister. For this, he won praise from DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for resigning because he refused to work with a corrupt Umno.

The moment seemed to belong to Mahathir when he was appointed as interim prime minister by the King hours after he quit. The same day, he quit as chairman of his party Bersatu.

Then, in the afternoon, Bersatu exited PH, causing the coalition to lose its parliamentary majority two months short of its second year as the government.

Keeping faith with Mahathir, PH, Umno, PAS, Warisan and other parties nominated him to be prime minister again, but when Mahathir announced that he sought to form a government that cuts across party lines, he quickly lost the support of the majority of the MPs.

That set the wheels turning for a new field of prime ministerial candidates. PH, now left with 92 MPs, down from 126 before the debacle, nominated PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as their choice to lead a new government.

The number that makes a simple majority is 112 MPs in a 222-member lower house.

In the face of an extremely fluid situation, the King lent a welcome sense of stability by announcing that he would interview all 222 MPs to determine who among the members enjoyed the confidence of the majority of the house. The exercise would take two days.

In a surprise outcome, however, Mahathir announced that the King did not find that any candidate for PM had a distinct majority, so a special sitting of parliament would be convened on March 2 to choose the next prime minister.

If no one was chosen, Mahathir said, a snap election would be called. To the bemusement of all, he said he had decided to become Bersatu chairman again.

But that was not the most dramatic moment of the week by far.

On Friday, the stakes turned sharply higher when the King announced that no MP had majority support. In view of this, the palace would give leaders of political parties an opportunity to present their candidates for the PM’s post.

He also agreed with the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s announcement that there would be no special session of parliament on March 2 as the notice from the interim prime minister was not done according to procedure.

Mahathir was also roundly criticised by a range of political parties for the move to get parliament to decide on the choice of premier before the King had made a decision on the matter.

In a further dramatic turn of events, the tide of support for Mahathir seemed to ebb away, with his party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin receiving strong support for the PM’s post.

Adding to the drama was news that 11 MPs, led by former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, who had been sacked from the party for his role in organising a gathering of leaders on Feb 23 in an attempt to unseat the PH government — the so-called Sheraton Move — had joined Bersatu.

On Friday evening, reports emerged of Muhyiddin being endorsed by 36 Bersatu MPs for the country’s top post. This was followed soon afterwards by a statement from Muafakat Nasional, the alliance between Umno and PAS, that all 57 of their MPs would back Muhyiddin. MCA and MIC have also throw their support behind Muhyiddin.

Intriguingly, Mahathir had said a day earlier that he was fine with Muhyiddin being named as a candidate for PM and accepting Umno members en bloc, although Mahathir himself would not.

Some news sites quoted sources as saying that Sabah’s Warisan with 9MPs and Gabungan Parti Sarawak with 18 MPs were expected to back Muhyiddin, but at press time, neither party had issued a statement on their position.

This brings into focus the question with which we began. With Anwar being nominated by 92 MPs in the three parties remaining in PH, will the winner for the PM’s post be one who strikes the best bargain with the parties in these two states?

Either way, Malaysians are set to enter a turbulent new phase in their journey as a nation.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.