The political turmoil in Malaysia over the past few days, leading to the fall of the prime minister and the collapse of his coalition government, has been unprecedented. But it was not unpredictable.
On Friday night, the presidential council of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, its highest decision-making body, held a rare meeting. The coalition parties had called it to try and force 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to set an exact date for his retirement and the transfer of power to putative heir Anwar Ibrahim.
