Bangkok, Aug. 16, (dpa/GNA) – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin quit on Monday after losing majority support in parliament but is set to remain as interim leader until a replacement is found.
Announcing his resignation live on TV, Muhyiddin defended his record and accused rivals of trying to use the coronavirus pandemic to seize control.
The now-caretaker premier claimed his attempts to deal with the pandemic and to remain in office “did not work” because of “parties who were greedy to grab power, rather than prioritizing your lives and livelihoods.”
Opposition leader and long-time prime ministerial aspirant Anwar Ibrahim said he “welcomed” Muhyiddin’s announcement as it “will pave the way for change.”
Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), said Muhyiddin “tried hard but fell short” in handling the “triple crisis” of pandemic, faltering economy and political instability.
Muhyiddin is set to stay on in the short term as caretaker prime minister, King Abdullah said, as staging parliamentary elections during the pandemic “would not be the best decision based on factors concerning the welfare and safety of the [people].”
Elections are due by May 2023 at the latest, but Muhyiddin last week said they could be held by July next year.
Muhyiddin had been set to face a confidence vote in parliament next month after coming under heavy pressure to resign over his pandemic response, with record death and hospitalization numbers being reported despite three months of lockdown.
Since the curbs were announced on May 10, daily coronavirus case numbers have increased five-fold to around 20,000, while the country’s economy is taking another heavy hit after a 5.6-per-cent contraction last year.
Gross domestic product shrank by 2 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, measured against the first three months of the year, according to official estimates announced last week.
Opposition parties had been joined by 15 members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party of deputy premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in demanding Muhyiddin resign.
Muhyiddin’s Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, another UMNO figurehead, said on Monday that it had been “an honour and privilege to serve.”
But in his resignation speech, Muhyiddin slammed “kleptocrats” – a likely reference to former premier Najib Razak, one of the UMNO lawmakers who pushed for Muhyiddin to quit.
Najib was last year sentenced to 12 years in jail for corruption while in office, though he remains free, pending an appeal, and faces four other trials
Najib said on Monday he would sue Muhyiddin over a separate recent claim by the caretaker prime minister that he was asked to intervene in ongoing court cases.
Muhyiddin was for a time Najib’s deputy but was fired in 2015 after criticizing Najib as the corruption allegations emerged.
GNA