Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will offer his resignation to the king Monday, a minister said, potentially spelling an end to his 17-month-old government and plunging the country into fresh turmoil.
“We just finished the meeting. Tomorrow, there will be a special cabinet meeting. After that, he will head to Istana Negara [National Palace] to submit his resignation,” Redzuan Yusof, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, told the Malaysiakini news portal.
Muhyiddin, 74, announced the decision to lawmakers during a meeting in his Perikatan Nasional alliance’s headquarters on Sunday, Redzuan said.
Redzuan said Muhyiddin informed party members of his decision to resign as he had exhausted all other options to sustain the government.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has faced mounting pressure to step aside after losing his parliamentary majority, and over his administration's handling of a worsening coronavirus outbreak. He made a last-ditch attempt to cling to power Friday by urging opposition MPs to support him in exchange for institutional reforms, but his offer was rejected.
It was not immediately clear who could form the next government as no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament, or if elections 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.
Muhyiddin came to power in March last year without an election at the head of a scandal-plagued coalition following the collapse of a two-year-old, reformist government led by Mahathir Mohamad. But his government was beset by turmoil from day one -- it had weak parliamentary support, its legitimacy was constantly questioned, and he faced a serious challenge from opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim.
“We just finished the meeting. Tomorrow, there will be a special cabinet meeting. After that, he will head to Istana Negara [National Palace] to submit his resignation,” Redzuan Yusof, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, told the Malaysiakini news portal.
Muhyiddin, 74, announced the decision to lawmakers during a meeting in his Perikatan Nasional alliance’s headquarters on Sunday, Redzuan said.
Redzuan said Muhyiddin informed party members of his decision to resign as he had exhausted all other options to sustain the government.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has faced mounting pressure to step aside after losing his parliamentary majority, and over his administration's handling of a worsening coronavirus outbreak. He made a last-ditch attempt to cling to power Friday by urging opposition MPs to support him in exchange for institutional reforms, but his offer was rejected.
It was not immediately clear who could form the next government as no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament, or if elections 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.
Muhyiddin came to power in March last year without an election at the head of a scandal-plagued coalition following the collapse of a two-year-old, reformist government led by Mahathir Mohamad. But his government was beset by turmoil from day one -- it had weak parliamentary support, its legitimacy was constantly questioned, and he faced a serious challenge from opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim.
