Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tendered his resignation to the king of Malaysia on Monday as the culmination of a week of political intrigue
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tendered his resignation to the king of Malaysia on Monday as the culmination of a week of political intrigue.
In a statement on Twitter, Mahathir also announced his withdrawal as co-chair of the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition.
The moves aim to bring down the fragile coalition government and lift Mahathir's obligation to hand over power to his coalition partner Anwar Ibrahim, according to English-language Malaysian daily the New Strait Times.
The newspaper reported that 94-year-old Mahathir would be able to form a new government excluding Anwar and his People's Justice Party.
Newspaper Malaysia Mail posited that Mahathir's moves were aimed at forming new coalitions with other opposition parties in order to avert waning popularity across the country.
The coalition's break-up comes less than two years after Mahathir and Anwar teamed up ahead of the 2018 general election.
Anwar, 72, had been Mahathir's deputy for a time when the latter served as Malaysia's Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003. The two are seen as Malaysia's most prominent political figures, although their relationship has been rocky.�
