MUHYIDDIN, ANWAR RACE TO FORM GOVT AS TURMOIL DRAGS ON IN MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s political parties were given until Tuesday to submit prime ministerial candidates, as the royal palace extended a deadline for opposition rivals Muhyiddin Yassin and Anwar Ibrahim to find more support after an election delivered a hung parliament.

The inconclusive result prolongs political instability in the Southeast Asian nation, which has had three prime ministers in as many years, and risks delays to policy decisions needed to galvanise an economic recovery.

Investors reacted negatively to the outcome of Saturday’s vote as the ringgit currency weakened and the Kuala Lumpur stock market slid over 1% in early trade on Monday.

Having initially asked political coalitions to submit the names of candidates for prime minister by 2pm on Monday, the palace extended the deadline by a day. King Al-Sultan Abdullah, plays a largely ceremonial role but has the power to appoint as prime minister a lawmaker he believes will command a majority.

Anwar’s multi-ethnic coalition won the most number of seats in the election with 82.

Muhyiddin’s Malay Muslim alliance took 73 seats, but then secured support from two smaller political blocs on Sunday, giving it control of 101 - still short of the 112 needed for a majority. Muhyiddin’s bloc includes an Islamist party that has called for Sharia law and that secured the largest number of seats of any single party.