Opinion | Farewell to Malaysia’s presidential premiership
- Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s appointment as Malaysia’s third premier in three years, with a slim majority, means the PM is no longer able to lord over everyone in the political system
- For Malaysia to move forward, recognising that the premiership is not about having absolute powers will help build better institutions and political processes
In the 1990s, opposition politicians liked to say that while the UK changes prime minister every five years and the queen rules for life, Malaysia changes its king every five years but Dr Mahathir Mohamad rules for life. Not really, but that is why it was a joke.
The once powerful prime ministers
The position of the prime minister used to convey a sense of perpetuity. A long-standing practice in Malaysia is to distribute millions of copies of the portraits of the king and queen as well as the prime minister. They would be put up in government offices, hotels, and even coffee shops.
At the height of Umno’s one-party state, the prime minister was also finance minister. Malaysia’s first two finance ministers – HS Lee and Tan Siew Sin – were the heads of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the coalition partner of Umno in the Alliance Party. Subsequent office holders were political heavyweights such as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Daim Zainuddin and Anwar Ibrahim.
