KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as the country’s caretaker prime minister after the King accepted his resignation as well as that of the entire Cabinet on Monday (16 August).
Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said in a statement today that Muhyiddin’s appointment as caretaker PM is in tandem with Articles 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution.
The constitutional provisions stipulate that the King has the authority to appoint a member of the Dewan Rakyat who His Majesty believes would have the support from the majority of the Lower House of Parliament to chair the Cabinet as the Prime Minister, said Ahmad Fadil.
“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,” he said.
Ahmad Fadil added that the King has expressed being against the prospect of calling for a general election during the pandemic, given the “worrying” state of the nation’s healthcare facilities at this point.
“His Majesty was informed by the Election Commission chairman that as of 10 August, 484 (or 79 per cent) out of 613 state seats are COVID-19 red zones,” he said.
In a special address on Monday, Muhyiddin said that he led the country “in an unprecedented health and economic crisis” under looming political threats and pressure.
He said that has made multiple efforts to save the Perikatan Nasional administration and have it helm the country at least until the national vaccination programme and economic recovery plan have been carried out successfully.
“But these efforts have not succeeded due to certain people’s insatiable greed for power, which trumps the need to save lives and livelihoods of the people,” he added.
Muhyiddin also recalled his experience of being fired from his position as Deputy Prime Minister during then-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s tenure over his refusal to “compromise” with the latter’s “kleptocracy” in the latter’s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.
He said that he “could have opted to take the easy way out” by sacrificing his principles to “remain as Prime Minister” today.
“But that was not what I had chosen to do,” said Muhyiddin.
Prior to Monday’s events, however, Muhyiddin had made a failed bid to secure bipartisan support, as his proposal was turned down by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition — which he and his party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) was once a part of. PH had continued to call for him to step down from the post.
Umno — formerly among his allies — has also rejected Muhyiddin’s offers, saying that it was not keen on taking on such offers from “a person who no longer has legitimacy”. The party also branded Muhyiddin’s offers as “open bribery”.
His premiership, while initially met with support and adoration from certain segments of society, was later met with swelling anger for the public as the COVID-19 situation in the country exacerbated.
To date, Malaysia has recorded over 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and more than 12,000 deaths.
Its daily toll of COVID-19 infections has gone beyond 20,000 cases.
Driven by desperation, protesters clad in black outfits and masks peacefully marched through downtown Kuala Lumpur on the last day of July despite being warned by the police against doing so on the eve of the protest.
The participants — mostly young Malaysians — held up black flags as well as banners and placards condemning Muhyiddin’s government over its poor handling of the COVID-19 situation.
The protest, organised by Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR), is part of the ‘Lawan’ campaign. ‘Lawan’ is the Malay word for ‘fight’ or ‘resist’.
Among the demands made in the campaign include Muhyiddin’s resignation and for Parliament sittings to continue, particularly after months of suspension since the start of the Emergency period in January.
Contract doctors across Malaysia’s public hospitals earlier went on strike on 26 July after Muhyiddin’s “half-baked” proposal to lengthen their contracts failed to placate their demands regarding their security of tenure.
The seismic changes in Malaysia’s political landscape were catalysed by the collapse of the PH government after the ‘Sheraton Move’ took place.
PH had earlier wrested power from Najib’s Barisan Nasional administration in 2018 after Najib was mired in a global controversy over his alleged abuse of 1MDB, among others.
BN governed Malaysia for 61 years since the nation’s independence prior to the 2018 general election.
The ‘Sheraton Move’ derived its name from the Petaling Jaya hotel in which a meeting among leaders from the Malay-centric Bersatu — led by Muhyiddin as president — and Parti Keadilan Rakyat attempting to form an alliance with Umno and other parties in a bid to establish a new government at the time.
Muhyiddin then took the mantle of Prime Minister from his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad on 1 March last year, following a power vacuum left by the latter’s resignation from the post. His term lasted for 17 months — rendering him Malaysia’s shortest ruling prime minister.
