Malaysia's prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has resigned after losing majority support in parliament, plunging the resource-rich country into a fresh political crisis amid surging Covid-19 infections.
Malaysia is the world's second-biggest palm oil producer and fourth-largest LNG exporter.
"I hope a new government can be formed as soon as possible so that the administration of our country is not disturbed," Muhyiddin said after announcing his resignation today. He will stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new prime minister is selected to form a government. Malaysia's king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who accepted Muhyiddin's resignation earlier today, said holding a general election is "not the best option" given the Covid-19 situation in the country.
Malaysia has a total of 1.4mn cases and 12,510 deaths as of today, according to Johns Hopkins University data. This compares with 28,554 active cases and 555 deaths in January and 1,780 active cases and 105 deaths in May 2020 when it reopened its economy after its first movement control order.
Muhyiddin's resignation brings to an end 17 months of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration marred by infighting and criticism over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes at a time when Muhyiddin has sought to prop up economic growth and curb a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the country with an accelerated vaccination drive.
The PN coalition came to power in early 2020 following the resignation of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan bloc, which won an unexpected victory in May 2018 to end United Malays National Organisation's (Umno) 61 years of rule. Umno later became one of the biggest component parties in PN but withdrew its support for Muhyiddin in July, citing his failure to deal with rising Covid-19 infections and manage political and economic stability as some of the reasons.
