Malaysia’s king picks Ismail Sabri as new prime minister by admin · Published August 20, 2021 · Updated August 20, 2021 Malaysia’s king has picked Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the country’s next prime minister, in a move that caps a major reversal of fortunes for the decades-old United Malays National Organisation (Umno) following its fall from grace in the 2018 election.