COMMENT | Malaysia’s “accidental” prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has reached the one-year milestone.

He has two to thank for getting here – government partner Bersatu, whose leadership put him in the position in the first place when they appointed him into the strategic deputy prime minister position; and opposition Pakatan Harapan, who kept him in office through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that assured his government had adequate support in Parliament on key votes until last month.

In the past week, as his first anniversary as PM approached, there had been a litany of press buffing him up, predominantly emphasising his generosity, humility, and likeability. The focus has been on Ismail Sabri the person. One column even went as far as to describe him as “populist extraordinaire”.

The aim has been to put a positive spin on his leadership and to shore up Ismail Sabri’s ongoing attempts to continue to stay in his position. They are trying hard – too hard...