Just in case you've been living under a rock, the big news coming out of Malaysia is that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad submitted his resignation to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysia's king, on Feb. 24.

Mahathir's party, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) have left the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, thereby triggering its collapse as it no longer commands the majority of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat (Malaysia's parliament).

According to the Malay Mail, Mahathir has designated his Deputy Prime Minister, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to serve as interim prime minister, which would make her the first woman to serve in the role.

But what will happen next? There are four possible scenarios.

1. The king dissolves parliament and calls for a snap election.

The king may decide that the political changes requires the public to have another opportunity to vote for a new government.

The next general election must be called by 2023, five years from the previous one in 2018, but a potential snap election will take place within the year.

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun told Malaysiakini that the EC is on "full alert" to facilitate a snap election if necessary.

2. Anwar becomes Prime Minister

Could Anwar become the next Prime Minister?

Technically, as leader of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Anwar commanded the largest party in parliament, although this was before Azmin Ali's exodus.

Former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, who was sacked from the party, announced that a number of other PKR MPs would join him in leaving the party.

If their resignations are accepted, PKR would no longer have the most number of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.

If that did not happen, Anwar would have been given the chance to make the case that he could form a simple majority in parliament.

With the Democratic Action Party (DAP) reportedly planning to back Mahathir as PM, not Anwar, his chances do not look good.

3. The king rejects Mahathir's resignation, he remains as Prime Minister

Another possible but unlikely scenario is that the king refuses to accept Mahathir's resignation.

Mahathir would remain in his post, assuming a miracle happens and everyone agrees to go back to the way things were.

4. The king allows Mahathir to form a new coalition government

This scenario, and perhaps one that Mahathir intended all along, is if he can demonstrate to the king that he is able to command a majority in parliament.

A new coalition of PPBM, UMNO, PAS, Azmin Ali's group and other opposition MPs could be cobbled together to form a new coalition that has enough MPs to form a majority.

This would mean that Mahathir could come back as prime minister once more -- for the third time in Malaysian history.

Top image from Mahathir Mohamad's Facebook page.