Muhyiddin Yassin appointed Malaysian caretaker PM after resignation is accepted by the king

KUALA LUMPUR: Mr Muhyiddin Yassin has been appointed Malaysia’s caretaker prime minister, after his resignation was accepted by the king on Monday (Aug 16). In a statement issued by the national palace, it said that the king has received the letter of resignation from Mr Muhyiddin and the entire Cabinet with effect from Monday.

Following his resignation, His Majesty has agreed that the Most Honorable Tan Sri Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin will serve as caretaker prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed. Earlier, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin wrote on Instagram: "The Cabinet has tendered our resignation to the Agong. Thank you for the opportunity to, once again, serve the nation. May God bless Malaysia.

Senior Minister Hishammuddin Hussein tweeted: It has been an honour and a privilege to serve our beloved country and her people. On Monday morning, Mr Muhyiddin chaired a Cabinet meeting, before proceeding for a royal audience with King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah. The prime minister's resignation came amid a political power play unfolding in Malaysia. Early this month, a number of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) lawmakers, led by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, withdrew their support for Mr Muhyiddin, compromising his already razor-thin parliamentary majority.

The prime minister initially insisted that he still commanded the parliamentary majority, and promised to prove his legitimacy through a motion of confidence scheduled to be tabled in the parliament on Sep 7.Last Friday, Mr Muhyiddin appeared in a televised address to seek bipartisan support to survive the confidence motion. However, his proposal was rejected by Pakatan Harapan (PH), which said that this was essentially an open admission that he had lost the support of the majority of the Lower House.

The opposition bloc called for him to step down.UMNO, too, said it would not consider offers from "a person who no longer has legitimacy", adding that his offer could be characterised as an "open bribery".

Mr Muhyiddin is president of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leading the Perikatan Nasional government. He was sworn in as the country's eighth prime minister on Mar 1, 2020 following a power tussle, which saw him pulling Bersatu out of then-ruling PH coalition and causing its collapse. During his 17-month tenure as premier, Mr Muhyiddin has been criticised by some quarters for failing to lead the Malaysian government effectively in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia is in the midst of its deadliest COVID-19 wave, with daily infection numbers exceeding 20,000 cases.In total, the country has seen more than 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and more than 12,000

Source: CNA/aw