Malaysia has seen a long period of speculation from a large portion of the public that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would never hand over the prime ministerial position to his nemesis-turned-ally Anwar Ibrahim. Since Sunday, a series of surprising events have been unfolding.
Malaysians were shocked following reports on Sunday night that political leaders from current opposition parties the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), as well as parties from the Coalition of Hope’s (Pakatan Harapan) Malay United Indigenous Party (PPBM) and some from Anwar’s own party, the People’s Justice Party (PKR) were seen gathering at the Sheraton hotel in the city of Petaling Jaya, in the state of Selangor, the same venue where the Coalition of Hope had announced its historic election victory in 2018.
Earlier in the day, 30 VIP vehicles were seen entering the country’s National Palace (Istana Negara), adding to the growing speculation that a change of federal government would be taking place, with MPs from PPBM, UMNO, and PAS and some from PKR – coming together to form a new political movement that some have been referring to as the National Coalition (Pakatan Nasional).
While all this drama was unfolding, Anwar and several of his supporters were calmly gathered at his home for a prayer session, where he was urged by the mufti (Islamic legal expert) of Penang to remain steadfast.
As events continued to unfold today, reports then revealed that Dr Mahathir had surprisingly resigned as prime minister and that his party, PPBM, had left the Coalition of Hope. Malaysians were coming to grips with the fact that they were now without a leader.
Previously, the Coalition of Hope was made up of PPBM, PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), and the National Trust Party (Amanah).
Several of the PKR leaders who were seen at last night’s gathering, including Azmin Ali – who has his own loyal followers within PKR – have been sacked from the party. Some other prominent PKR leaders, including Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, have also left the party.
In the latest development, Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, were in audience with the King at the National Palace that lasted for about an hour. The nation now holds its breath and waits in anticipation of what is to unfold next.