Malaysia’s new prime minister insisted Monday he was no “traitor” after taking power without an election and with support from a scandal-tainted party, following political heavyweight Mahathir Mohamad’s shock resignation. “I know there are those who are angry with me — I am not a traitor,” Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address — his first extensive comments since being inaugurated Sunday. Mahathir then sought to come back as prime minister but lost out to low-profile, former interior minister Muhyiddin, who has backing from a coalition dominated by the multi-racial country’s ethnic Malay Muslim majority. ‘For all Malaysians’Muhyiddin defended his legitimacy as premier, saying he had secured majority support from MPs. But he insisted: “I am a prime minister for all Malaysians.”

Source: The Guardian March 02, 2020 15:00 UTC