Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah has named Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the new prime minister, the palace said in a Friday statement.
Ismail will be Malaysia’s third prime minister in three years. He will be sworn in on Saturday after receiving the support of 114 members of parliament, the palace said. That’s more than the 111 required for a simple majority.
Ismail’s predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on Monday after a little over 17 months in power. Muhyiddin had lost majority support in parliament due to infighting within his ruling political coalition.
The appointment of Ismail, who was deputy prime minister under Muhyiddin, would essentially keep the ruling coalition intact.
But his ascent means that the country’s longest-governing political party — the United Malaysia National Organisation or UMNO — has reclaimed Malaysia’s premiership after a shocking loss in 2018.
