KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s former interior minister sworn in as country’s new premier on Sunday amid deepening crisis that hit the Southeast Asian nation last week when Mahathir Mohammad tendered his resignation.
Muhyiddin Yassin took the oath of office at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur, capping a week of political turmoil following the collapse of the former ruling coalition.
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The country was plunged into turmoil a week ago following the collapse of 94-year-old Mahathir’s reformist "Pact of Hope" alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018 against a government mired in corruption allegations.
Mahathir — the world’s oldest leader— then quit and triggered a race for the premiership, which he lost to little-known Muhyiddin, who heads a coalition dominated by the country’s ethnic Malay Muslim majority.
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The decision by the monarch to pick Muhyiddin on Saturday caused widespread anger that the democratically elected government was being ejected, while Mahathir insists he in fact had enough support to become leader again.
The king appoints the country’s prime minister, who must prove he has the support of the majority of MPs.