All eyes on Malaysian PM Muhyiddin’s political future after royal audience

KUALA LUMPUR: All eyes are on Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as he is expected to make an announcement on his political future, after meeting with King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Monday (Aug 16).

When leaving his residence in Bukit Damansara at 7.42am, Mr Muhyiddin was seen waving at the media personnel who had been around the area since early morning, reported Bernama.

He then arrived at the Perdana Putra building, Putrajaya at 8.07am to attend a Cabinet meeting.

Mr Muhyiddin's vehicle was later seen entering the national palace in Kuala Lumpur at 12.23pm, according to Bernama. Local media said he is expected to formally announce his resignation as prime minister to the ruler.

His car left the palace at 1pm.

Early this month, a number of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) lawmakers, led by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, withdrew their support for Mr Muhyiddin, compromising his already razor-thin parliamentary majority. 

The prime minister initially insisted that he still commanded the parliamentary majority, and promised to prove his legitimacy through a motion of confidence scheduled to be tabled in the parliament on Sep 7. 

Last Friday, Mr Muhyiddin appeared in a televised address to seek bipartisan support to survive the confidence motion. 

However, his proposal was rejected by Pakatan Harapan, which said that this was essentially an open admission that he had lost the support of the majority of the Lower House. The opposition bloc called for him to step down.

UMNO, too, said it would not consider offers from "a person who no longer has legitimacy", adding that his offer could be characterised as an "open bribery". 

On Monday, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin wrote on Instagram: "The Cabinet has tendered our resignation to the Agong. Thank you for the opportunity to, once again, serve the nation. May God bless Malaysia."