Malaysian PM resigns as uncertainty lingers

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation may have brought his 18-month government to an end, but analysts doubt this will end the political uncertainty over the past year.

After meeting his cabinet for the last time on Monday, Muhyiddin submitted his resignation to Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah. The Malaysian king accepted Muhyiddin's resignation and appointed him as caretaker prime minister until a successor is named, according to a statement released by the national palace.

The sultan also believes that holding the general elections is not the best option at the moment, given that the country continues to battle with the pandemic.

In a televised speech, Muhyiddin said he and his cabinet had resigned as he no longer had the support of the majority of members of parliament.

Early in August, 11 members of the United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, the biggest political party behind the ruling coalition, withdrew their support for Muhyiddin. Without UMNO's backing, Muhyiddin lost his razor-thin majority in parliament, forcing him to quit his post as the Malaysian constitution has no provision for a minority government.

Bilveer Singh, deputy head of the political science department at the National University of Singapore, said Malaysia will continue to have "a precarious balance of power until the general elections is called again".

Singh said this will be the status quo as long as the ruling party has a thin majority in the parliament.

Without the benefit of a mandate from the voters, an incoming government has to prioritize and effectively manage the pandemic "to justify and legitimize" its status to Malaysians, Singh said.

Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, said Malaysia's political stability and governance will depend on "how fast and how broad based the new government will be formed".

"If the government has a bare majority, then it won't be able to make difficult decisions necessary to fight the pandemic and save the economy," Wong said.

He said without broad support, the new government can suffer from a public backlash and another round of infighting of the kind that wracked the coalition.

Muhyiddin came into power in March last year after his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad resigned.

No successor announced

However, Muhyiddin long had a tenuous hold on power as his ruling coalition commands only a tiny majority in parliament. Political infighting coupled with widespread criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic has beleaguered Muhyiddin's government in the past few months.

The sultan has yet to name Muhyiddin's successor, but the top contenders include opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Awang Azman Awang Pawi, associate professor at the University of Malaya, said Malaysians are hoping that the new government will better manage the pandemic and promote economic recovery.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections wants an incoming prime minister "to pursue political stability by offering multipartisan governance and institutional reforms".

Xinhua contributed to this story.