The alliance said Muhyiddin Yassin had failed to meet the conditions under which the party supported his candidacy last March
Malaysia’s largest political party United Malaysian National Organisation (UMNO) has withdrawn its support for incumbent Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and demanded his immediate resignation. This was stated in a statement issued by UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Thursday.
According to him, “Muhyiddin has not fulfilled the conditions under which the party supported his candidature in March last year.” “This is about steps to rebuild the economy and fight the pandemic effectively”, – the politician pointed out. “We are demanding the appointment of an interim head of government before an early general election”, – Ahmad Zahid stressed.
“The Cabinet is not living up to people’s trust”, – the UMNO leader pointed out, citing the lockdown announced in June, during which the number of people infected with the coronavirus continues to rise. – “The prime minister is also abusing the emergency declared in January by using it as a political ploy”, – he added.
Local political analysts note that the UMNO released a statement immediately after the appointment of two members of the party leadership to key positions in the government was announced. For instance, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yakob became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hishamuddin Hussain became Senior Foreign Minister.
The country faced a political crisis early last year after the then incumbent head of government, Mahathir Mohamad, resigned, also resigning as leader of the ruling Alliance of Hope. He took over as prime minister after winning the general parliamentary elections in May 2018. However, contrary to established practice, the top ruler independently appointed a new prime minister – Muhyiddin Yassin. Meanwhile, Mahathir has until recently insisted that it is he who retains the parliamentary majority. In September, the new leader of the Alliance of Hope, Anwar Ibrahim, demanded an early election because he believed that his candidacy had the most support in parliament.