China News Service, March 3 (Chen Shuang) In the past week, the political situation in Malaysia has been unpredictable. After the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Mahathir, various parties started a fierce game around the new prime minister candidate. Relatively low-profile Muhidin, unexpectedly became a "dark horse" to stand out.

Why did Mahathir suddenly resign? Can Muhidin stabilize the situation after taking office? Has Malaysian "political storm" completely subsided? What is the future political situation? Chinanews invited experts to interpret them one by one.

Data Map: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir.

Seven days of turmoil, games in chaos

——Where does Malaysia's "political storm" originate?

On February 24, Mahathir, who had been in office for almost two years, suddenly announced his resignation as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The indigenous unity party he founded also withdrew from the ruling coalition, which led to political fluctuations. The political parties in the opposition and the opposition staged a fierce game for the new prime minister.

It is worth noting that after his resignation, Mahathir expressed his willingness to re-appoint as Prime Minister, while the ruling Alliance of Hope (PLA) nominated former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar as Prime Minister. Why did Mahathir resign? Analysts said the immediate cause was related to the transfer of power within the ruling coalition.

As early as the 2018 election, Mahathir, who had been stepped down as Prime Minister for 15 years, formed an alliance with Anwar, the chairman of the People's Justice Party, and led the Pakatan Harapan, consisting of the People's Justice Party, the Democratic Action Party, the Indigenous Solidarity Party and the National Integrity Party. The general election defeated Najib's multi-party coalition led by UMNO and returned to the center of the political arena.

Mahathir promised at the time that he would transfer the post of prime minister to "successor" Anwar in 2020. However, two years have passed, and the specific transfer time has not yet been determined. The People's Just Party, the largest party of the Pakistani led by Anwar, has begun to pressure Mahathir.

Former Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Chai Xi told Chinanews.com that Mahathir's choice to resign at this time was a political strategy of "retreating and advancing."

Shi Yongming, an expert on Asia-Pacific issues, further analyzed that Mahathir had been in power for many years, and his main political thought was to balance between "nationalism and globalization, and between traditional conservativeness and radical freedom ... to avoid Malaysia going to any extreme Direction. "

However, he said that for more than a decade, Malaysia's political situation has been subject to interference by external factors, and Anwar has also shown a tendency of "over-westernization." "As a result, the internal contradictions of the Pakatan Harapan have been intensified, and it is time for poor coordination. Mahathir has to choose to resign in order to avoid transferring the post of Prime Minister to Anwar."

Data map: Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and leader of the People's Justice Party Anwar.

"Dark Horse" Prime Minister, also a veteran in politics

-The "post-Mahatir era" coming?

Mahathir's resignation was initially supported by the Pakatan Harapan, but because Mahathir insisted on the formation of a coalition government, Pakatan nominated Anwar as the prime minister, while the opposition Malay National Unity Organization (UMNO) Mahathir opposed the party's joining the coalition government as a political party, withdrawing its support for its re-appointment as prime minister.

As a result, the post eventually fell to Mahidir, Mahathir's indigenous unity party chairman.

According to the BBC analysis, while Mahathir and Anwar "scarred", the Malaysian head of state identified Mukhiddin as a candidate likely to win the majority of parliamentarians in parliament. Become a profit "fisherman".

Muhiddin, 72, has been in Malaysia for more than 40 years. He served as Deputy Prime Minister during Najib's administration and served as Minister of the Interior while Mahathir was in power. Two important choices in his political career were related to Mahathir.

For the first time, in 2016, Mukhtin and Mahathir left UMNO and followed Mahathir to join in the creation of the Indigenous Solidarity Party. Subsequently, the Indigenous Unity Party joined the Pakatan Harapan and defeated the UMNO-led National Front in the 2018 election.

This time, Muhidin, who is the chairman of the Indigenous Solidarity Party, also announced the withdrawal of the Indigenous Solidarity Party from the Pakatan Mahathir after Mahathir resigned as Prime Minister. The difference is that Mukhtindin is more willing than Mahathir to form an alliance with UMNO, the "old owner".

Shi Yongming said that at present it seems that the various factions in Malaysia do not want political turmoil, and at the same time, they cannot dominate the situation. Therefore, the election of Mukhtin as Prime Minister is the result of compromise and balance between all parties. However, it is unknown whether Mukhtindin can maintain balance.

Local time on March 2nd, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhiddin left office.

Crisis temporarily resolved, uncertainties remain

Can the new Prime Minister stabilize the situation?

Although the new prime minister has been settled, there are still uncertainties in Malaysia's political situation, and Mukhtin's prime minister's term also faces many challenges.

Faced with the results of Mukhtin's appointment as prime minister, Mahathir and Anwar both expressed a considerable rebound. Both said they would submit a motion of no confidence in Mukhtin after the resumption of the lower house of parliament on March 9.

"I feel betrayed, especially Mukhtin," Mahathir said on the 1st.

At present, the indigenous unity party led by Mukhtin has only 36 seats in the National Assembly. After removing 6 seats from the Mahathir faction, there are only 30 seats left. Therefore, he must obtain the support of all parties and earn the support of more than half of the members of the parliament before he can secure his position as prime minister.

Shi Yongming pointed out that Muhiddin's power is relatively weak at present, so his current main task should be "to seek stability, avoid conflict, and build a political foundation for himself."

"He should not put forward any ideas of his own now, but should coordinate the opinions of various parties to find a consensus point. On the basis of ensuring a stable political situation, find a development path that everyone can accept."

The Malaysian Constitution stipulates that Muhidin can advise the head of state as Prime Minister to postpone the date of parliamentary resumption to June at the latest. This means that if the Supreme Head of State agrees, Muhiddin will have up to three months to negotiate with all parties to win allies.

Data Map: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhiddin.

Multilateral win-win situation or turbulence again?

——How many possibilities is there for the Malaysian political situation?

At present, it is unknown whether the Malaysian parliament can resume the meeting on the 9th as scheduled, and the final decision of members is still unknown, but the possible future political situation is still receiving much attention.

Chai Xi said that the key point of the political situation is whether Muhiddin can get enough support from parliamentarians before the new parliament convenes and survive the motion of no confidence.

Chai Xi pointed out that according to Malaysian law, if someone proposed a motion of no confidence in Muhiddin in parliament and the motion was passed, then Muhiddin would need to resign and the MP may re-elect the Prime Minister; meanwhile, Muhi Ding called for the possibility of the Supreme Head of State dissolving Parliament and re-election.

Shi Yongming analyzed that the way to achieve a win-win situation is that both Mahathir and Anwar return to "rational", and use this opportunity to express their support for Mukhtin.

He said that this is an opportunity for Mahathir, who is already old, to train a new generation of successors. For Anwar, facing a relatively weak leader, he can still seize the opportunity. Build up your strength for a future comeback. (Finish)