Muhyiddin congratulates PM Ismail over swearing-in of Cabinet

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has congratulated his successor Ismail Sabri Yaakob over the formal swearing-in of his Cabinet members, expressing hope that they will carry out their duties with the priority of bringing the country out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The vaccination programme which has been encouraging with over 62% of the adult population having received two complete doses should be ensured to run smoothly and achieve the set targets.

“Similarly, the phased opening of economic sectors under the National Recovery Plan must be implemented in an orderly manner without compromising the country’s target of recovering from Covid-19,” he said.

Following his resignation, Muhyiddin, with some 50 MPs under his Perikatan Nasional coalition (PN), had backed Ismail as his successor.

He said on Aug 19 that PN’s support for Ismail was on condition that his Cabinet did not include those who are facing criminal charges in court.

He said the decision to support Ismail was made in order to ensure the continuity of PN’s principles prioritising efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and restore the country until a suitable time for a general election to return the mandate to the people.

He said any PN government under Ismail’s leadership must also continue the practice of respecting the separation of powers, protecting the freedom of the judiciary, and upholding the constitutional monarchy.

On Friday, Ismail named 31 ministers to form his Cabinet, largely retaining key people from Muhyiddin’s administration and sparking criticism from Umno and the opposition.