Malaysia’s New Leader Carries Old Baggage

So much for a changing of the guard in Malaysia. The new governing coalition looks a lot like the one that collapsed last week amid defections, record Covid-19 cases and a diminished outlook for economic recovery. The resemblance doesn’t bode well for the durability of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's administration.

Ismail Sabri, a former deputy premier, was sworn in by the king Saturday to be Malaysia's third leader in less than two years. The parties backing him, which can expect to be rewarded with plum jobs, also comprised the alliance helmed by Muhyiddin Yassin, who resigned last week. Muhyiddin's bloc was plagued by factionalism — lawmakers seeking concessions or those with grievances often threatening to join the opposition. The new premier's legislative support doesn't appear to be much better. He has the backing of 114 lawmakers, a very thin majority in the 220-seat lower house of parliament.

The king wants Ismail Sabri's support tested by a confidence vote in parliament. That is the very motion Muhyiddin strove to avoid, fearing he didn’t have the numbers. The prime minister could do worse than establish a cabinet of national unity — a kind of war council — to get the country through the worst of the pandemic and hopefully a general election can be called. In a speech Sunday, Ismail Sabri made a pitch for the opposition to join a group advising the government on economic revival and a committee working on Covid-fighting measures.