Malaysia' Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has resigned from being chairman of his political party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

The announcement was made by Mahathir On Facebook on Feb. 24.

"Media Statement

Resignation as Chairman of Bersatu

1. Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad has submitted his letter of resignation as Chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU)

2. The letter has been submitted to the head office of BERSATU today.

The Office of the Chairman of BERSATU

Petaling Jaya"

Resignation as chairman follows resignation letter to the King

The move comes a few hours after the submission of his resignation letter to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on the same day.

Resignation as chairman comes after Mahathir's party announces they will quit ruling coalition

Prior to the announcement of his departure as party chairman, Bersatu president, Muhyiddin Yassin, stated that the party had quit Pakatan Harapan, the ruling coalition.

Muhyiddin added the decision was made on Feb. 23 during a special meeting.

“All MPs from Bersatu will also leave Pakatan Harapan,” he said

“All of them have signed a statutory declaration to continue supporting and putting their trust in Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister.”

The Straits Times (ST) reported that Mahathir had supposedly quit in protest regarding Muhyiddin's decision to quit the ruling coalition and work with the opposition United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) instead in creating a new government.

Malaysiakini further reported that the Bersatu supreme council will hold an emergency meeting at 8.30pm at their headquarters in Petaling Jaya later today.

Not the first time Mahathir has quit his political party

This is not the first time Mahathir has quit a political party however.

Previously in 2016, he had quit UMNO on the grounds that it was supporting corruption, Reuters reported.

As per Mahathir at that time:

"I won’t call it UMNO anymore, this is Najib’s party. I feel embarrassed that I am associated with a party that is seen as supporting corruption - it had caused me to feel ashamed."

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that Bersatu was then founded in the same year with several former UMNO members.

Top image collage from Mahathir Facebook and Bersatu Facebook