AFTER a week of uncertainty in February 2020, Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister on March 1, following the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamed and the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Muhyiddin’s tenure over the past 16 months, in a government cobbled together by former enemies-turned-friends, has had its fair share of ups and downs, especially in its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here is a timeline of Muhyiddin’s time in office.

2020

March 1

Sworn in after the infamous “Sheraton Move”, which led to the collapse of the 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government.

March 18

Implemented nationwide movement control order (MCO 1.0), which prohibited all but essential sectors to operate. Schools were closed, interstate and inter-district travel was prohibited, and dining at eateries was also banned.

July 13

Dewan Rakyat speaker Ariff Yusof was removed from office following a vote in Parliament. The government won with a slim majority of two votes, 111 to 109.

September 23

PKR president and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim announced he had a “strong and formidable” number of MPs to form the government. However, he failed to secure support from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

September 26

The Sabah election went ahead despite warnings from health experts. The polls led to a Covid-19 outbreak across the country, after MCO 1.0 had successfully brought down the number of infections.

October 13

Umno said it was mulling withdrawing support for Muhyiddin and the Perikatan Nasional government.

October 25

The Agong rejected Muhyiddin’s proposal to declare a state of emergency to curb the spread of Covid-19.

2021

January 12

Muhyiddin returned to the Agong, who gave his consent to declare a state of emergency until August 1. Parliament was suspended and a second MCO was announced.

March 28

Umno announced it would stop co-operating with PN once a general election was called.

June 1

MCO 3.0 was implemented nationwide following a record high of 9,000 more than cases reported a day.

June 15

Muhyiddin announced the national recovery plan, which he said would steer the country out of the pandemic. Reported Covid-19 cases were still more than 5,000 a day.

June 16

The Agong said Parliament should convene. The Prime Minister’s Office said it has taken note of the request.

June 29

The Agong again called for Parliament to convene as soon as possible to debate laws introduced during the state of emergency.

June 30

The PMO announced he was suffering from diarrhoea.

July 5

The government announced that Parliament will convene for a five-day special briefing from July 26 to August 2. The last time Parliament sat was in December 2020.

Malaysians on social media started the white flag movement so citizens struggling to put food on the table could ask for aid.

July 6

A black flag protest took place on social media, calling for Muhyiddin to resign, Parliament to convene and the state of emergency to end.

July 7

Muhyiddin promoted Ismail Sabri Yaacob to deputy prime minister and Hishammuddin Hussein to senior minister for foreign affairs.

July 8

The Umno Supreme Council withdrew support for Muhyiddin, called for his resignation and a new prime minister to be elected.

July 14

The cabinet agreed to back Muhyiddin to lead the nation through worsening Covid-19 pandemic.

July 24

Contract doctors in hospitals nationwide went on strike over contract issues.

July 26

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Takiyuddin Hassan announced in Parliament that all six ordinances introduced during the emergency had been revoked effective July 21.

A check on the website of the Attorney-General’s Chambers showed that no such order had been gazetted.

July 29

A statement from the Royal Palace confirmed that the Agong did not consent to the revocation of the ordinances.

The Parliament session was suspended twice. First, to discuss the house agenda and a second time for Covid-19 tests following the detection of two cases.

Anwar files a motion of no confidence in Muhyiddin. Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Muhyiddin and Takiyuddin must resign for “treason”.

July 31

The #Lawan protest, organised by Secretariat Solidarity Rakyat (SSR), took place near Dataran Merdeka.

Around 1,500 people clad in black arrived at the national landmark to demand Muhyiddin’s resignation, for Parliament to convene and for an automatic loan moratorium for everyone during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Muhyiddin announced that the last day of the Parliament session will be adjourned to a later date due to 11 people testing positive for Covid-19.

August 1

The Dewan Negara postponed its three-day sitting, which was to begin on August 3, to a later date.

August 2

Opposition lawmakers marched to Parliament to protest the postponement. They were met by police and the federal reserve unit (FRU), who blocked their way.

August 3

Muhyiddin announced that the emergency ordinances will be tabled in Parliament, in September.

He said the process to cancel the ordinances as intended by the cabinet could not proceed without the assent of the Agong.

This statement followed a royal rebuke on July 29 that the government had not received the Agong’s consent to do so. The prime minister’s office said that it had acted in accordance with the law.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Shamsul Anwar Nasarah resigned.

Shortly afterwards and in an online press conference, Zahid said Umno had withdrawn support for Muhyiddin and the Perikatan Nasional government.

Zahid added that the party had presented the Agong with a list of MPs who would no longer support the prime minister: Najib Razak (Pekan), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang), Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang), Noh Omar (Tanjong Karang), Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit), Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling), Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut), Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang) and Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands).

August 4

Muhyiddin announced that a vote of confidence would take place when Parliament convened in September to prove that he was in command of a majority.

This followed a meeting with the Agong earlier in the day.

August 5

Pakatan Harapan dared Muhyiddin to test his majority by August 9, saying the vote could not be postponed until September.

Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 warned of potential inducements taking place behind closed doors to gather support for Muhyiddin.

MCA threw its support behind the prime minister, according to the Barisan Nasional coalition resolution.

August 6

Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacob and 31 MPs publicly supported Muhyiddin.

Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Azalina Othman called for the vote of confidence to take place before the parliamentary session in September, saying it would be proper to settle the issue before the royal address.

August 9

Zahid announced that 14 Umno MPs had withdrawn support for Muhyiddin. The additional names were presented to the Agong in a letter dated August 4.

Following his announcement, opposition parties sent letters to the Agong rejecting Muhyiddin’s leadership.

August 11

Muhyiddin met with the heads coalition allies in the Perikatan Nasional government at the prime minister’s office in Putrajaya.

August 13

In a televised press conference, Muhyiddin appealed to opposition lawmakers to form a bipartisan government that would keep him in power.

He outlined seven concessions he would make, such as a fixed term for the post of prime minister, an bill preventing party hopping, equal funding for all constituencies, to pass Undi 18 and to call a general election for no later than July 2022.

However, his offer to form a bi-partisan government was rejected by Pakatan Harapan, Warisan, Upko, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Muda.

August 15

The Bersatu supreme council confirmed Muhyiddin had lost the majority in Parliament and would be meeting the Agong to offer his resignation.

August 16

Muhyiddin announced that his resignation had been accepted by the Agong. – August 16, 2021.