Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin poised to resign on Monday, ending political crisis, minister says

The country’s political stand-off came to a head on Friday after anti-government lawmakers dismissed the prime minister’s last-ditch unity proposal and urged him to resign

Muhyiddin came to office in March 2020 after leading a political coup against the ruling Pakatan Harapan alliance, which Mahathir Mohamad led to power in 2018 elections

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Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in parliament. Photo: AP

Published: 1:00pm, 15 Aug 2021Updated: 9:34am, 17 Aug 2021

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will resign on Monday and pave the way for the country’s protracted political crisis to be resolved, a minister has said.

“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.

The minister, a member of Muhyiddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, made similar comments to The Malaysian Insight. He did not immediately respond to This Week in Asia’s queries.

Other Muhyiddin allies who attended Sunday’s meeting declined to confirm or deny Redzuan’s comments when contacted.

The political stand-off came to a head on Friday when anti-Muhyiddin lawmakers rejected his last-ditch proposal for a raft of concessions and polls by July 2022 in exchange for support in a September 7 vote of no confidence.