In what may be a sign of brewing conflict within the ranks of UMNO, Malaysia's Cabinet has come out in unanimous support of Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister.

This came a few days after the UMNO party's Supreme Council announced that it would withdraw its support for Muhyiddin and his government.

Show of support

The statement on July 14 emphasised that the decisions of the government are made collectively.

It also said that the government's focus is to guide the country out of its current Covid-19 situation.

The cabinet has unanimously pledged full support for PM Muhyiddin. It stressed that every government decision is a collective one. Focus of the government right now is to ensure the success of the national recovery plan to safely exit the pandemic for the country and the people pic.twitter.com/xzyEoBi0jc

— Melissa Goh (@MelGohCNA) July 14, 2021

Previously in the early hours of July 8, UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the Supreme Council was withdrawing its support for Muhyiddin, who heads the Bersatu party.

He said that the government had failed to accomplish several goals, including containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

But Ahmad Zahid did not say whether UMNO members serving as ministers in the Cabinet were expected to resign from their posts.

UMNO ministers given prominent roles in Muhyiddin's government

Notably, mere hours before Ahmad Zahid's announcement, Muhyiddin announced the promotions of two UMNO members in his cabinet.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was made Deputy Prime Minister, while Hishammuddin Hussein was made Senior Minister.

Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, also has a prominent role leading the government's vaccination programme, along with others.

With the support of his UMNO ministers, Muhyiddin may yet survive this latest challenge to his position.

Top image from Muhyiddin Yassin Facebook page.