Azmin Ali to be DPM, according to Malaysiakini

 

The PM with his future deputy? Pic by Bernama

Bangsar, 24 Aug: This choker by Malaysiakini interrupted our lunch today:

Azmin poised to become DPM, according to Bersatu, Umno sources

Malaysiakini Team

Published 24 Aug 2021, 1:05 pm

Modified 1:14 pm

Gombak MP Azmin Ali is poised to become the country's next deputy prime minister, according to sources in Bersatu and Umno.

A Bersatu source, who is aligned to Azmin, told Malaysiakini there was a "strong likelihood" that the Gombak MP was going to become the deputy prime minister.

Three Umno sources, who are on the supreme council including two who are MP...

This is not the first time someone's betting on Azmin to be DPM. In April 2019, the former trusted aide of Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who later became Mahathir Mohamad's blue-eyed boy, was said to be in line for the No 2 job when Mahathir was PM7. Read the Malaysiakini report Azmin clueless about becoming DPM during Hari Raya celebration.  Well, we all know Azmin did not become DPM and that less than a year after that report, he helped mastermind the so-called Sheraton Move that swept aside Mahathir and led to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin becoming PM8. Azmin was made one of the four senior ministers under Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional government, with reports saying he even moved into the official DPM residence in Putrajaya (which was taken to strongly imply that he was the "chosen one"). In a twist of fate, though, Azmin was pipped by another senior minister, Ismail Sabri, to the DPM post. Ismail Sabri, with Azmin's support, is now PM9.  

 

 

 

 

 

Why Ismail Sabri may still be the shortest-lived PM in history

The 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia

Bangsar, 20 Aug: A top executive of the Parliament reminded me at lunch today that whoever the PM might be - Ismail Sabri or Anwar Ibrahim - he would have SIX MONTHS before he's got to dissolve Parliament and call for GE15. "Remember, that's the consensus," he said. 

Apparently, he was referring to the consensus alluded by Muhyiddin in a televised message just before he had to tender his resignation as PM (Malaysia PM seeks bipartisan support for vote on his leadership):

 "We have reached a consensus to consult with the leaders of parties outside (the ruling bloc) to approve the confidence motion," Muhyiddin said in a televised address.

"This will enable the current government to continue managing the pandemic until it is time for elections to be held."

The polls will be held by July 2022 depending on the state of the pandemic, he said.

Ismail Sabri is to be sworn in at Malaysia's 9th PM at 2.30pm tomorrow at Istana Negara. He will then need to seek a vote of confidence in Parliament to prove his legitimacy,

p.s. Muhyiddin was PM for 17 months, the shortest tenure for now