PM heads for Istana as nation stays glued to another political drama

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has left Putrajaya and is on his way to Istana Negara for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as Malaysians closely follow what promises to be another exciting episode after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government last year.

Muhyiddin today chaired a special Cabinet meeting lasting 90 minutes, with speculation rife that it would be the final meeting of the Perikatan Nasional government.

“They also had a photography session as is the case when a government is prepared to seek a new mandate or resign,” said a source.

There has been intense speculation that Muhyiddin will tender his resignation to allow the Agong to choose a new prime minister.

This comes days after opposition parties dismissed his offer of a cross-party consensus that promised critical reforms for which they had been fighting in exchange for their support in an upcoming confidence vote promised by Muhyiddin.

Despite the pressure from the opposition for Muhyiddin to resign, no single individual is believed to have the majority needed to convince the Agong that he or she could be appointed as prime minister.

This is due to divisions and long-standing animosities between leaders on the opposition front, including the involvement of a set of MPs known as the court cluster.

It was learnt that the opposition including PH’s candidate for prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, had failed to obtain the majority support, and might be content with the support of Umno MPs aligned with their president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former leader Najib Razak, who between them are facing hundreds of corruption charges.