“I have submitted my resignation to the King because I had lost the confidence of a majority of lawmakers. I hope a new government will be formed as soon as possible,” Yassin said, in a nationally televised speech.

Yassin will stay on as interim premier, the palace said.

Much of Yassin’s tenure has been overseeing Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including enacting several iterations of the Movement Control Order (MCO), a vaccination programme, and declaring a 2021 state of emergency, where parliament and elections were suspended.

Although his government's initial response was praised by the WHO and had high local approval ratings, the worsening of the COVID-19 crisis in 2021 has attracted criticism, including from major coalition party UMNO which withdrew its support and called for Muhyiddin's resignation in July.

On Sunday, reports emerged of Muhyiddin's imminent resignation, after attempts to consolidate support from MPs were unsuccessful. (ILKHA)