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After multiple unsuccessful bids for the seat of Malaysia's prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim finds himself among the frontrunners for the job once again.

Pakatan Harapan (PH), the coalition led by Anwar, currently holds 88 seats in parliament.

As the parliament has a total of 220 seats, any candidate vying for the prime minister's seat will have to drum up support from at least 111 member of parliaments (MPs), in order to achieve a simple majority.

Sabah-based Warisan (Sabah Heritage Party) -- an opposition party that's aligned with the PH -- might have just handed Anwar the boost he needed, claiming that they will support the 74-year-old's bid, as long as he has the "magic number".

Warisan to support Anwar if he has the "magic numbers"

Warisan youth chief Mohd Azis bin Jamman took to Twitter to declare the party's conditional support:

Warisan will support DSAI for PM if DSAI can get pass the magic number and hope PH will give right of first refusal to Shafie if DSAI cant get pass the magic number.

— Mohd Azis Bin Jamman (@azisjms) August 17, 2021

He further clarified that the "magic number" he was looking for was the support from a minimum of 111 out of 220 MPs.

Minimum 111 out of 220 MPs. As it stand today, opposition is at 105 MPs so we are short of 7 extra MPs

— Mohd Azis Bin Jamman (@azisjms) August 17, 2021

According to Azis, in the event that Anwar is unsuccessful in his bid for premiership, he would have to return the favour by backing Warisan's president Shafie Apdal to challenge for the top job.

The youth chief also told Malaysiakini that they will not join forces with anyone from the "court cluster", which refers to the seven MPs from UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) who are either convicted or currently facing criminal charges.

Azis added that Warisan is in the midst of convincing MPs to throw their support behind Anwar.

As things stand, opposition and independent MPs hold a total 105 parliamentary seats, including Warisan's eight seats.

Anwar's options narrowed

It is apparent that Anwar would need all the help he can get if he is to ascend to power, and Warisan's backing could prove crucial to his bid.

However, Warisan's conditions that came with their olive branch could limit his options, as he is prohibited from working with UMNO's "court cluster".

This means if he accepts Warisan's offer, he is unlikely to work with the 15 UMNO MPs that withdrew from the Muhyiddin administration, as they are led by UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing criminal charges himself.

Zahid, who's facing corruption charges currently, is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 25, as per The Star.

In the event that Anwar successfully secures support from all 105 opposition and independent MPs, he would require at least six more seats in order to gain a simple majority in parliament.

Time is ticking for the "almost man", as the deadline for MPs to indicate their favoured prime minister candidate ends at 4pm on Tuesday (Aug. 18).

Top image via Anwar Ibrahim & Shafie Apdal's Facebook pages

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