Malaysia's Mahathir says Parliament will pick new PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia－Malaysia's interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that Parliament will pick a new leader next week following the collapse of the ruling alliance and that snap elections will be called if the vote ends in an impasse.

Mahathir, who met the king earlier on Thursday, said the monarch couldn't find a candidate with a clear majority to lead the nation after consulting all 222 lawmakers over the last two days.

A comeback as prime minister for a third time would be a remarkable feat for Mahathir, the world's oldest leader at 94, after nail-biting twists, turns and machinations in the political drama that unraveled over the weekend. A failed bid by Mahathir's supporters to form a new government without his named successor, Anwar Ibrahim, plunged the country into political limbo.

Thirty-seven lawmakers, led by Mahathir's Bersatu party, left the ruling alliance, depriving it of majority support and sparking a crisis less than two years after it ousted a corruption-tainted coalition that had ruled for 61 years. The king dissolved the Cabinet but reappointed Mahathir as interim leader.

The result has been a renewed battle between Mahathir and Anwar, whose political feud has stretched more than two decades.

Mahathir said on Wednesday that he had quit to show he wasn't power crazy and because he didn't want to work with the former corrupt regime that he had ousted in 2018 polls. Despite a preelection pact to hand over power to Anwar, Mahathir said Parliament should pick the next leader and that he would form a nonpartisan government if he was chosen again to lead the government.

"I just want to do what is best for the country," Mahathir said in a televised message. "I believe, rightly or wrongly, politics and political parties must be set aside for now. If allowed, I will form an administration that does not side with any party. Only national interest will be prioritized."

His unity government plan was rejected by Anwar's camp.

Anwar said lawmakers from the three remaining parties in his alliance had nominated him to be prime minister after Mahathir rejected their offer to restore their former government.

Anwar's camp still controls 41 percent of parliamentary seats and could become the largest bloc after two key Malay opposition parties withdrew their support for Mahathir.

Anwar was Mahathir's deputy during Mahathir's first stint in office in the 1990s, but he was sacked and later jailed on charges that he said were trumped up. Anwar was jailed a second time in 2014.

Xinhua