Malaysia’s new prime minister may be selected through WhatsApp

Bloomberg

Malaysia’s lawmakers must submit their choice of a new prime minister to the palace by 4 pm local time on Wednesday, as the nation’s king begins the search for a successor to Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned on Monday.
Lawmakers were reminded to keep the contents of their declaration letters a secret until the king decides which MP commands the support of the majority, according to a notice sent to members of parliament by Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun. Lawmakers may email, fax or WhatsApp their choice of premier, he added.
Opposition MP Ong Kian Ming still openly stated he would back Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, after getting queried on Twitter.
Ong is a member of the Democratic Action Party, the nation’s largest political party by number of parliament seats.
The development has echoes of last year, when Muhyiddin was appointed after Mahathir Mohamad’s abrupt resignation left the country without a prime minister for a week. Rather than holding a parliament sitting, the monarch spent several days interviewing lawmakers at his palace to gauge their support, leading to shifting alliances and a flurry of statutory declarations that both launched and ultimately ended Muhyiddin’s brief stint as premier.
The method is legal as the constitution allows for the king to exercise his opinion on who likely commands the majority, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
“But if you want to improve transparency, the future government would have to push through a constitution amendment making it more explicit as to how to determine the majority which a prime minister enjoys,” he said.
Muhyiddin and his cabinet resigned after more than 17 months in power, fuelling a crisis of leadership in a country beset by a weakened economy and a surge in Covid-19 cases. He will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a successor is named.
The king has also called the leaders of at least six political parties, including the United Malays National Organisation, Democratic Action Party and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, for a meeting, according to local media. Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, the party of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, has been invited, according to a party spokesman.