The former PM leads the Bersatu party and chairs the Malay-dominated Perikatan Nasional alliance. If he relinquishes that, it could rob the bloc of one of the few leaders with broad appeal.

The Bersatu party, which leads the opposition alliance, found that four lawmakers were getting threatened with legal action or offered cash bribes to back Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, according to its president Muhyiddin Yassin.

A Kuala Lumpur court found the Muda leader guilty of embezzling more than US$200,000 of funds for a political party.

Officials spent US$100 million on some 8.5 million vaccine doses that went unused, while US$4.2 million was wasted on mostly faulty ventilators, a parliamentary report said.

Former PMs Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin ‘will stab PAS’, wrote Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi. ‘But PAS will stab them first’.

Perikatan Nasional’s Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor stands accused of bringing the Selangor monarchy into disrepute with his ‘lousy’ swipe at a fellow chief minister.

The regional polls will not directly impact Anwar’s two-thirds majority in parliament, but any significant losses for his coalition could lead to questions about his leadership and destabilise his ruling bloc.

Anwar says he consulted multiple government experts about the deal, calls on the opposition to spell out their allegations and defer from making sweeping statements.

Muhyiddin condemned Prime Minister Anwar’s announcement that his government was open to talks on Beijing’s concerns over Petronas’ exploration in the disputed waterway.

Legal threat comes after PM Anwar Ibrahim made a thinly veiled attack on Mahathir Mohamad, potentially reigniting a decades-old feud.

Readers discuss the charges against Malaysia’s former prime minister, the US jury system, democratic development in Hong Kong, the theme of the financial secretary’s budget speech, and why companies struggle with hiring.

The former leader pleaded innocent on Monday to receiving illegal proceeds of more than US$1 million that was banked into his political party.

Muhyiddin, who described the case as politically motivated, was granted bail after pleading not guilty to all six charges.

Muhyiddin, who was PM from 2020 to 2021, will be charged on Friday over allegations of abuse in stimulus programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he had been called into the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, but did not say why.

Former Covid tsar and defence minister among key members who got the boot from Umno for demanding party boss Ahmad Zahid’s resignation over poor election showing.

Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government hinges on support from Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is preparing to fend off challenges to his leadership ahead of party polls in May.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has sued former PM Muhyiddin Yassin for defamation, seeking to stop Muhyiddin from publishing untrue claims that he had received RM15 million (US$3.38 million) per year previously as Selangor government’s adviser.

Anwar’s decision to put his authority on the line could see his administration halted in its tracks prematurely, with MPs allowed to vote independently of party line.

The deputy prime minister, who is also Umno president, said Malaysia’s newly appointed home minister had found a ‘letter on his desk’ that attempted to have the party declared illegal.

Accusations fly ahead of a December 19 confidence vote that will prove Malaysian PM Anwar’s parliamentary majority.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, said ‘tens of billions of ringgit’ in Covid relief during Muhyiddin Yassin’s time as premier was allocated without due procedure.

PAS, one of the parties in ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional coalition, has long unnerved Malaysia’s minority groups with its hardline Islamist stance.

Pakatan Harapan’s chief has been sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister, after five days of political uncertainty.

Hope lingers for Anwar to emerge as PM after Muhyiddin reportedly rejected the king’s proposal for a ‘unity government’.