Otago Daily Times

Malaysia’s PM called on to resign

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faced calls to resign yesterday amid doubt over the support he commands, after the king rejected his request to declare a state of emergency to fight the coronaviru­s.

Muhyiddin had requested emergency rule amid a fresh spike in infections in Malaysia and the pandemic’s battering of the economy. Critics, however, accused him of seeking a pretext to suspend Parliament and avoid a test of his razorthin parliament­ary majority.

King AlSultan Abdullah’s refusal is seen as further eroding Muhyiddin’s grip on power, a month after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he had majority support to form a new government.

Turning down Muhyiddin’s request on Sunday, the king asked politician­s to end any politickin­g that could destabilis­e a government that he said had handled the pandemic well.

But leaders of other parties in Muhyiddin’s coalition and the opposition criticised his move to seek emergency powers and called on him to step down. — Reuters

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