Muhyiddin Yassin

Muhyiddin Yassin
محيي الدين ياسين
Muhyiddin in 2021
Muhyiddin in 2021
8th Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office
1 March 2020 – 16 August 2021
Caretaker: 16 – 21 August 2021
MonarchAbdullah
DeputyIsmail Sabri Yaakob
Preceded byMahathir Mohamad
Succeeded byIsmail Sabri Yaakob
Menteri Besar of Johor
In office
12 August 1986 – 13 May 1995
MonarchIskandar
Preceded byAbdul Ajib Ahmad
Succeeded byAbdul Ghani Othman
President of the
Malaysian United Indigenous Party
Assumed office
7 September 2016
Deputy
Preceded byPosition established
Ministerial portfolios
1981–1982Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs
1982–1983Deputy Minister of Federal Territories
1983–1986Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry
1995–1999Minister of Youth and Sports
1999–2004Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumerism
2004–2008Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry
2008–2009Minister of International Trade and Industry
2009–2015Minister of Education
2009–2015Deputy Prime Minister
2018–2020Minister of Home Affairs
2021–2022Chairman of the National Recovery Council
Parliamentary offices
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Pagoh
Assumed office
26 April 1995
Preceded byAhmad Omar
In office
23 July 1978 – 3 August 1986
Preceded bySyed Nasir Ismail
Succeeded byAhmad Omar
Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly
for Bukit Serampang
In office
4 August 1986 – 25 April 1995
Preceded byZakaria Salleh
Succeeded byAhmad Omar
Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly
for Gambir
In office
10 May 2018 – 11 March 2022
Preceded byZakaria Salleh
Succeeded bySahrihan Jani
Party offices
2009–2016Deputy President of UMNO
2020Acting Chairman of BERSATU
Personal details
Born
Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin

(1947-05-15) 15 May 1947 (age 77)
Muar, Johor, Malayan Union (now Malaysia)
Political party
Other political
affiliations
  • Alliance (1971–1973)
  • BN (1973– 2016)
  • PH (2016–2020)
  • PN (since 2020)
Spouse
(m. 1972)
Children4
Alma materUniversity of Malaya (BA)
Signature
Muhyiddin Yassin
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
1978–1986Barisan Nasional
1995–2016Barisan Nasional
2016–2017Independent
2017–2018Malaysian United Indigenous Party
2018–2020Pakatan Harapan
2020Malaysian United Indigenous Party
2020–Perikatan Nasional
Faction represented in Johor State Legislative Assembly
1986–1995Barisan Nasional
2018–2020Pakatan Harapan
2020Malaysian United Indigenous Party
2020–2022Perikatan Nasional

Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin[note 1] (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Mohd. Yassin (Jawi: محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين; IPA: [muhjɪddɪn bɪn ˈmuɦɑmmæd jɑ̀ssɪn]), is a Malaysian politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2020 to 2021.[5] Appointed as prime minister amid a political crisis, Muhyiddin served for 17 months and resigned after losing parliamentary support.

Muhyiddin grew up in the state of Johor and joined the state public service after graduating from University of Malaya (UM). He assumed management positions at various state-owned enterprise. In 1978, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Pagoh. During this term, he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, deputy minister of federal territories and later deputy minister of trade and industry. As the Johor UMNO chief, he was the state's Menteri Besar from 1986 to 1995. He returned to federal politics in 1995. He was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Youth and Sports. He was appointed Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs after the 1999 general election and became a vice president of UMNO in 2000. Under the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Muhyiddin served as Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry from 2004 to 2008, and then as Minister of International Trade and Industry from 2008 to 2009.

In 2008, he contested and won the UMNO deputy presidency and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education by Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009. As Minister of Education, Muhyiddin ended the use of English as the medium of instruction for science and mathematics in public schools. He also attracted controversy after describing himself as "Malay first" when challenged by the Opposition to pronounce himself as "Malaysian first". Muhyiddin was a vocal critic of his government and party over the 1MDB scandal; as a result, he was dropped from his position during Najib's mid-term cabinet reshuffle in July 2015, marking the first incumbent UMNO deputy president to be left out of the president's cabinet. In June 2016, he was expelled from UMNO.[6]

He participated in founding the political party Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) under Mahathir in 2016. He returned to the cabinet after his coalition of parties Pakatan Harapan won the 2018 Malaysian general election.[7] In February 2020, BERSATU withdrew from Pakatan Harapan, culminating in a political crisis as the coalition lost its majority in the Dewan Rakyat. Following Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's subsequent resignation, Muhyiddin successfully formed a new coalition Perikatan Nasional by receiving support from enough MPs to form a majority government and was appointed prime minister on 1 March.

Much of his premiership was overseeing Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which became a major crisis shortly after he took office. This included 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,[8][9] the worsening of the COVID-19 crisis in 2021 attracted criticism and destabilised the coalition.[10] On 16 August 2021, he resigned after attempts to regain support from MPs were unsuccessful.[11] He remained caretaker Prime Minister until his replacement Ismail Sabri Yaakob was selected on 21 August 2021.[12]

Muhyiddin unsuccessfully ran as the prime ministerial candidate for Perikatan Nasional in the 2022 general election. In March 2023, Muhyiddin was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as part of a corruption investigation on several counts of money laundering and abuse of power, making him the second former prime minister after Najib Razak to be prosecuted.

  1. ^ "'Muhyiddin Or Mahiaddin?' Shah Alam Court Rules Out Order Made By PM Because He Didn't Use His Real Name". The Rakyat Post. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Report: Sabahan walks free after High Court revokes detention order signed by PM with 'glamour name'". Malay Mail. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Muhyiddin or Mahiaddin contesting in Pagoh - Bersatu chief asks EC". Malaysia Kini. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Don't spell my name as Mahiaddin, Muhyiddin tells Election Commission". The Star. 29 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Agong appoints Muhyiddin as caretaker PM, rules out election". MalaysiaNow. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ^ "UMNO sacks former Malaysian DPM Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir". Channel NewsAsia. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Home". election.thestar.com.my.
  8. ^ "Malaysia, once praised by the WHO as 'united' against COVID, has gone back into lockdown". 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  9. ^ Sipalan, Joseph (2 September 2020). "Pandemic, Malay power lend popularity boost to Malaysia PM: poll". Reuters. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Malaysia's Muhyiddin resigns after troubled 17 months in power". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  12. ^ Latiff, Rozanna (22 August 2021). "Malaysia's new PM invites opposition to join COVID-19 effort". Reuters. Retrieved 20 December 2021.


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