Kuala Lumpur, August 16

Malaysia's Muhyiddin Yassin stepped down as the Prime Minister on Monday after months of political turmoil culminated in the loss of his majority, but his resignation is likely to open another chapter of instability in the absence of any obvious successor.

Muhyiddin's resignation ends a tumultuous 17 months in office, the shortest stint of a Malaysian leader, but hampers efforts to reboot a pandemic-stricken economy and curb a resurgence of Covid infections.

The Southeast Asian nation's king appointed Muhyiddin as the caretaker PM until a new one is found, but did not set a timeline. King Al-Sultan Abdullah ruled out elections because of the pandemic, saying he would invoke his constitutional power to appoint a prime minister he believes is likely to command a majority. Malaysia's ringgit currency fell to a one-year low on the news and the stock market slipped.

TOP CONTENDERS

• It is unclear if a new PM can be picked soon, said Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod, a law expert at International Islamic University of Malaysia.
• The top contenders are Muhyiddin's deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob, veteran lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein, all from United Malays National Organisation.

Muhyiddin said he resigned along with his Cabinet after losing majority support in parliament. As caretaker, he added, he will have no cabinet, but will perform executive functions and advise the king until a new prime minister is appointed. “I hope a new government can be formed immediately so that the administration of this country is not disrupted," he said in a televised speech. "The next two months is crucial, as we expect to achieve herd immunity in October,” Muhyiddin added. Malaysia's infections and deaths per million rank as the region's highest in the pandemic. — Reuters

Economic downturn

Malaysia’s currency fell to a one-year low on Monday and analysts forecast further pressure on the country’s financial markets as the PM’s resignation raised the prospects of uncertainty

Sequence of events

Feb 24, 2020 A reformist ruling alliance collapses. PM Mahathir Mohamad quits

Feb 29 The king names Muhyiddin as the new PM

March 4 Muhyiddin delays opening of Parliament

March 18 The government imposes a national lockdown to curb the pandemic

Jan 12, 2021 Muhyiddin announces a state of emergency to tackle the pandemic

June 1 Malaysia enters a second nationwide virus lockdown

July 8 UMNO president says the party has withdrawn support for Muhyiddin and urges him to resign

July 26 Parliament reopens for a special five-day sitting to brief lawmakers on the pandemic

Aug 2 Dozens of opposition lawmakers protest Parliament’s closure and call for Muhyiddin to resign

Aug 3 UMNO declares the government has fallen after some of its lawmakers pull their support

Aug 16 Muhyiddin tenders his resignation to the king AP