Malaysia PM Muhyiddin to resign on Monday: reports

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will resign on Monday, news portal MalaysiaKini reported, after he lost his majority due to infighting in the ruling coalition.

The resignation, if confirmed, would end a tumultuous 17 months in office for the 74-year-old leader.

It was not immediately clear who could form the next government as no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament, or if a general election could be held in Malaysia amid the pandemic.

It would be up to the constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, to decide what happens next. The king has the constitutional power to appoint a prime minister from among elected lawmakers based on who he thinks can command a majority.

Mr Muhyiddin will submit his resignation to the king on Monday, according to Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, a minister in the prime minister's department, Malaysiakini reported on Sunday.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Friday, 8.30 am

Asean Business

Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.

Sign Up

Mr Mohd Redzuan was quoted as saying that Mr Muhyiddin informed party members of his decision to resign as he had exhausted all other options to sustain the government. "(On Monday), there will be a special cabinet meeting. After that, he will head to (the palace) to submit his resignation," Mr Mohd Redzuan told Malaysiakini.

Mr Muhyiddin's grip on power has been precarious since he came to power in March 2020 with a slim majority.

Pressure on him mounted recently after some lawmakers from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party - the largest bloc in the ruling alliance - withdrew their support.

The premier had for weeks defied calls to quit and said he would prove his majority in parliament through a confidence vote in September. But last Friday, Mr Muhyiddin admitted for the first time that he did not have a majority and made a last ditch effort to woo the opposition by promising political and electoral reforms in exchange for support on the confidence vote. The offer was unanimously rejected.

Potential candidates for the premiership or interim prime minister include Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and veteran lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, both from the UMNO party. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim could also stake a claim.

Separately on Sunday, Mr Muhyiddin announced that the country will open up more sectors to individuals who have been fully vaccinated in an effort to rebuild parts of the economy which have been shut due to the virus outbreak.

Under the new guidelines which will take effect on Monday, hair salons, shops selling electrical goods, furniture, sporting equipment and car accessories will be allowed to operate in states under the first phase of the national recovery plan, Mr Muhyiddin said.

Malaysia is gradually rolling back Covid-related curbs as it seeks to strike a balance between sustaining economic growth and reining in daily infections which have topped 20,000 over the past four days.

Restrictions for the manufacturing sector have also been eased, with no limit on the operating capacity for companies with a workforce that is between 80 per cent and 100 per cent fully inoculated. Companies with an inoculation rate of between 60 per cent and 79 per cent will be subject to an 80 per cent workforce cap.

The central bank last Friday lowered its 2021 economic growth target to 3-4 per cent from an earlier estimate of 6-7.5 per cent. The government placed the entire country under lockdown in June in a move that cost 40,000 people their jobs, with the hit estimated at RM1.1 billion (S$351.7 million) a day. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG