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© Reuters. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin speaks in a cabinet announcement in Putrajaya, Malaysia on March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
By Liz Lee and Mei Mei Chu
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters)-Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (Muhyiddin Yassin), despite increasing pressure to resign, said on Wednesday that he retained the majority of legislators and will reconvene the parliament of Southeast Asian Nations next month Prove this.
Muhyiddin said in a televised speech that King Sultan Abdullah agreed that he should remain in power until the vote of confidence, even if some members of his coalition have withdrawn their support.
Since taking office as prime minister in March last year, Muhyiddin’s control of power has been in jeopardy, but the influential monarch has so far helped him survive to avoid political chaos, as Malaysia is struggling with the rising COVID-19 infection and Fight against economic recession caused by repeated blockades.
Pressure broke out for him to resign again last week. However, after the king’s rare condemnation of the government’s move to revoke the emergency law without his approval, the royal family said the action violated the constitution.
The United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Party, the largest group in Muhyiddin’s ruling coalition, said Muhyiddin had lost his legitimacy after being condemned, and some of his lawmakers had written to the king to withdraw their support.
In a provocative speech on national television-with nine lawmakers nearby, including the deputy prime minister and Umno politician Ismail Sabri Yacob-Muhyiddin said he would resign without any doubt.
Muhyiddin said: “I have notified the king that I have received some statements from the legislators, which convinced me that at this time I still have confidence in most legislators.”
“However, I know that my position as prime minister continues to be questioned. Therefore, I have notified the king that I will determine my legitimacy as prime minister in Parliament,” he said.
The Umno party is divided in supporting Muhyiddin, who has been in power with a small majority since he came to power in March 2020 and leads an unstable ruling coalition.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, which fell earlier due to political uncertainty, made up for some losses after Muhyiddin’s speech.
Corruption allegations
Muhyiddin said the political turmoil was triggered by the demands of “certain parties” that he refused to meet, including the release of individuals facing corruption charges.
“This includes pushing me to intervene in court affairs to release some people prosecuted for criminal offences,” Muhyiddin said, but he did not name them.
Umno did not immediately comment.
Several Umno politicians are facing corruption charges, including former prime minister Najib Razak and party chairman Ahmed Zahid Hamidi.
Najib was convicted last year in a case related to the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He denied wrongdoing and appealed the ruling.
Ahmad Zahid is also undergoing corruption trial.
The two were among those who withdrew support for Muhyiddin this week.
Last year, Muhyiddin was selected by the king to form a government with Umno and other parties that lost in the 2018 general election. But he has been challenged by some Umno lawmakers.
Multi-ethnic Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, and the role of the king is rotated among the nine sultans, the traditional Malay rulers.
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