Sin Chew Daily

Whether Ahmad Zahid likes it or not, or whether the rakyat like it or not, or whether PH is happy with it or not, Ismail Sabri Yaakob is set to become the country's next prime minister.

With 114 seats on his side, Ismail Sabri will soon move into the prime minister's office, just waiting for His Majesty to make the official announcement after his meeting with the Malay Rulers tomorrow.

Of course, the new PM still needs to pass the confidence vote when parliament reconvenes.

If everything goes smoothly, Ismail Sabri may as well be the biggest winner in the this round of Umno's political struggle.

After three years and three months, having witnessed the rocky days of its MPs hopping over to Bersatu, the "Sheraton Move" which brought down the PH government and Ahmad Zahid's daring move to retract his support for Muhyiddin, Umno is eventually back at the pinnacle of power once again.

After the fated election in May 2018, no one would have imagined that Umno would be back at the helm of Putrajaya anytime soon, and that Ismail Sabri would get a chance at all to hold the top government post.

Seizing the power will mean a lot to Umno, as it will gain access to many of the political advantages and resources while getting the upper hand in seat negotiations with Bersatu and PAS in the run-up to the next general election to be held by 2023 or much earlier.

Sure enough there is this possibility these three parties do not reach an agreement but this is something much later which is beyond our control anyway.

Although Ahmad Zahid does not get to be PM after successfully taking down Muhyiddin, his decisions have at least given Umno a rare opportunity to stage a powerful comeback. This also augurs well for Umno's and BN's preparation for the next election.

By comparison, Muhyiddin and his Bersatu are the biggest losers in this power grabbing game.

For the past 17 months, Muhyiddin's administration had come under tremendous pressure from both the opposition PH coalition as well as a ravaging pandemic, before Ahmad Zahid and his 14 anti-Muhyiddin fellow Umno lawmakers became the last straw that broke the camel's back, forcing Muhyiddin to resign before the Sept 6 confidence vote.

In a joint media interview after his resignation, Muhyiddin said he was betrayed. We have no idea who actually betrayed him. If he was betrayed by some in Umno, why should his party support Umno's PM candidate in the first place?

With Muhyiddin having ceded the power to control the federal government, his party Bersatu will also lose the dominance when it comes to seat negotiation before GE15. This will make it even harder for the party to recapture the PM seat in future vis-à-vis BN, PAS and PH.

When meeting the leaders of parties on Wednesday, His Majesty said even the new PM to be appointed by him whom he believes commands the majority support will have to go through the confidence vote in parliament to prove his legitimacy.

His Majesty has also proposed a new political landscape for the country that "the winner will not win all while the loser will not lose all".

Under the new political landscape, the next PM must form a a power-sharing and consensus cabinet and eschew "old" and "tired" politics for the well-being of the rakyat in conformity to the national recovery plan.

Does this mean the new cabinet will also include members from the opposition? We are not in any position to make such a speculation. Let's just wait and see!