Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Malaysian politicians and perennial rivals Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim have joined forces once again; this time to protest the shutdown of Parliament on Aug. 2.

According to Malaysiakini, alongside other opposition MPs, both also called for current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to resign.

"Thousands have died but he is happy to be prime minister. This type of prime minister has never been seen in Malaysia," said Mahathir.

Saying that Muhyiddin wanted to be a "backdoor PM", Mahathir blasted his successor as being more focused on holding onto power than handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I hope the country will reject this kind of person from the political platform," he added.

Alongside him, opposition leader Anwar once again declared that Muhyiddin did not have the support to maintain government, reported Malay Mail.

"I was informed there were MPs from other parties who wanted to leave PN," he said of the ruling coalition.

Anwar previously claimed that he had the numbers to form a government.

March to Parliament

Calls for the embattled prime minister to resign have been found renewed vigour after an incident in Parliament, where the king expressed "disappointment" at the announcement by Muhyiddin's government that the emergency ordinances had been revoked.

According to the palace, the power to revoke the ordinances lies with the king.

The group of around 100 lawmakers were marching towards parliament but were stopped and dispersed by police.

A tweet by The Vibes reported that law enforcement will be carrying out an investigation on the protest after a number of police reports were made.

JUST IN

The police will carry out an investigation on this morning's march to Parliament.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim told the media that a number of police reports have been made.

— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) August 2, 2021

Why is the protest happening?

AFP reported that Malaysia's parliament was due to meet today (Aug. 2) but was postponed after a number of Covid-19 cases were found among the legislature.

Opposition MPs have accused Muhyiddin of using the Covid-19 cases as an excuse to avoid holding a no-confidence vote that would presumably see the end of his reign as prime minister.

This recent parliament session — which began last week — had been the first of the year after Malaysia declared a state of emergency.

Follow and listen to our podcast here

Top photo by ARIF KARTONO/AFP via Getty Images