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Malaysia’s Mahathir promises to seek successor’s ousting at every turn
- Mahathir scolds Muhyiddin Yassin for bringing back into power a corruption-tainted party he says was rejected by voters
- He reckons Muhyiddin’s alliance only held a two-seat majority in parliament’s 222-seat lower house, and says he’d work to topple it
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Veteran Malaysian politician Mahathir Mohamad said he would seek to oust Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin at every turn, scolding his successor for bringing back into power a corruption-tainted party rejected by voters in a historic election two years ago.
The prospect of more political and policy uncertainty in Malaysia comes at a time when the multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation is grappling with the health crisis and economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, the 94-year-old Mahathir, who resigned the premiership in February, questioned the legitimacy of Muhyiddin’s coalition with the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which has been in place for about two and a half months.
“It’s wrong for this back door arrangement to be done. We want to give the people the rightful government that they chose. That is our aim,” Mahathir said in an interview conducted on video conferencing app Zoom.
Having been part of Mahathir’s government, Muhyiddin unexpectedly emerged as prime minister in March after forging an alliance with Umno to gain a parliamentary majority. The opposition have accused him of stealing power by shifting alliances instead of earning it at the ballot box.
Earlier this week, the government avoided a confidence vote tabled by Mahathir, insisting that parliament gave priority to the fight against the coronavirus, and its economic fallout.
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