Moves that led to checkmate

Lost chance: Shafie (left) and Anwar’s tussle over who would be the Prime Minister candidate lost the Opposition its chance to gather enough numbers in support. — Filepics/The Star

THE story of how Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob put together the numbers to be chosen as Prime Minister is about basic maths. How Opposition leader and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim failed to do so is all about fuzzy maths.

The maths for Ismail Sabri’s ascension to the top post began with a solid 100 MPs behind him. To get the simple majority of 111 – out of 220 – MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, he needed just 11 more MPs on his side. And those the Bera MP could easily get from among the 15 Umno MPs who had withdrawn their support for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, causing him to lose majority support as Prime Minister.