Malaysia’s new prime minister takes office amid growing health crisis

KUALA LUMPUR, August 21 (Reuters) – Malaysia swore in a new prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, on Saturday as the Southeast Asian nation struggles with its worst increase in COVID-19 and public anger grows over bad pandemic management.

The appointment of Ismail Sabri, 61, restores the role to a party tainted by graft accusations, after he got the parliamentary majority of the same alliance that collapsed this week and replaced Muhyiddin Yassin.

Ismail Sabri, a former Muhyiddin deputy, was invested in the national palace after being elected by King Al-Sultan Abdullah, the constitutional monarch.

He was sworn in before the monarch and other coalition leaders, including former Prime Minister Najib Razak.

King Al-Sultan Abdullah has already said the new prime minister should face a vote of confidence in parliament to prove his majority. Read more

Ismail Sabri begins his work at a time when Malaysia’s population-related infections and deaths are the highest in Southeast Asia.

An online petition launched this week attracted 350,000 signatories opposing the appointment of Ismail Sabri, citing his treatment of the pandemic.

Friday’s 23,564 cases were a record for the third day in a row, surpassing 1.5 million.

Public anger has grown as infections have spread despite prolonged blockages and vaccinations. Since last month, Malaysians in need have hoisted white flags at home to seek public help. Read more

Although Malaysia escaped the worst of the pandemic last year, regional elections have led to a steady increase in infections since the fourth quarter of 2020, with the Delta variant worsening the situation in recent months.

Flip flops on closure measures, lack of action against politicians who violated the rules and months of politics have aggravated the public.

The pandemic has also dampened economic growth, with a reduction in the central bank’s forecast for 2021 this year. Read more

With Ismail Sabri in charge, the post returns to the National Organization of Malaysia (UMNO), which ruled for more than six decades since independence, but was defeated in a 2018 election by a state fund scandal. 1MDB.

He becomes Malaysia’s third prime minister since the 2018 elections, after UMNO received support from Muhyiddin last month, citing his failure to manage the pandemic.

Najib was convicted of 1 MB, but has denied the offenses and appealed the sentence.

Reports of A. Ananthalakshmi; Edited by Clarence Fernandez

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.