PH chiefs hope for change as Mat Sabu tells defectors to return

Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) top leaders today welcomed the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, calling for change by the next administration in the days to come.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim who is also PH chairman thanked Muhyiddin for his service, adding that his decision to step down would open up space for change in the country.

“I urge all parties to stay calm and to pray that Malaysia rises again in strength to face the current health and economic challenges,” he said in a statement.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng meanwhile said Muhyiddin had taken “the correct constitutional step” in submitting his resignation after losing his parliamentary majority.

“During his 17 months in power, Muhyiddin tried hard but fell short in handling the triple crises of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic recession and political instability,” he said.

“The new prime minister faces huge challenges and will have to do a far better job of dealing with the triple crises, particularly to save lives and livelihoods badly affected by the surge of Covid-19 infections and deaths.”

Muhyiddin resigned as prime minister today after a brief audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah later decreed that he be made caretaker prime minister pending the appointment of a new leader.

Muhyiddin’s resignation came days after opposition parties dismissed his offer of a cross-party consensus in exchange for their support in an upcoming confidence vote.

He said in a speech after his resignation that it was clear he no longer commanded majority support following the rejection of his offer, as well as the withdrawal of support from 15 Umno MPs aligned with their president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid, alongside Anwar and former leader Najib Razak, had been at the forefront of efforts to topple Muhyiddin.

Meanwhile, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu urged all MPs who had won the previous election on a PH ticket to reunite under the coalition’s banner.

“Let what happened in the past remain in the past, and let us create history to rebuild our beloved country,” he said.

“When the mandate of the people in the previous election is restored and the parliamentary institution is revived, no one will be left behind because the role and views of the opposition will also be taken into account in administering Malaysia to bring it out of the Covid-19 health crisis and rebuild the country’s economy.”