Former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong said in a blog post today that Ismail had only served 40 days as deputy prime minister before the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet, after which he was appointed Muhyiddin’s successor.

He said Ismail benefited from the absence of other prominent Umno figures in Parliament after the 2018 general election, such as deputy party president Mohamad Hasan, who was former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, and party vice-president Khaled Nordin, who was former Johor menteri besar.

Liew said this made Ismail the most senior and acceptable candidate from Umno to replace Muhyiddin.

“Ismail is likely to have learned Muhyiddin’s lessons. Slightly more a month since he was sworn in as prime minister on Aug 21, despite being uninspiring, he has yet to make major strategic blunders.

“So far so good for him. But will his luck hold?” he said.

Ismail was appointed the country’s ninth prime minister after Muhyiddin resigned from the post on Aug 21, having served as senior minister of defence in the Cabinet and briefly as deputy prime minister.