Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Resigns Over COVID-19 Pandemic Response Failure

Muhyiddin Yassin, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, waves his hand as he enters the palace in Kuala Lumpur by car to meet King Abdullah on the 16th (local time).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on the 16th, taking responsibility for the failure in COVID-19 containment.

On that day, Prime Minister Muhyiddin visited King Abdullah to express his resignation. After presiding over the final cabinet meeting in the morning, he reportedly visited the Malaysian royal palace around 12:30 PM and stayed for about 30 minutes.

The royal palace announced, "King Abdullah immediately accepted Prime Minister Muhyiddin's resignation. However, he appointed him as interim prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed."

Prime Minister Muhyiddin took office on March 1 of last year and stepped down after 17 months.

Malaysia has the fastest spread of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia. With a population of 32 million, Malaysia reported an additional 19,000 confirmed cases on this day, bringing the total to approximately 1,424,000. The cumulative death toll reached about 12,000.

The Malaysian constitution allows the king to appoint as prime minister a person who commands the confidence of the majority of members of parliament. However, since no party currently holds a clear majority in parliament, confusion is expected over the appointment of the new prime minister.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.