Bouquets and brickbats as Muhyiddin bows out

 

While many praised his contributions in his 17 months in charge, more social media users chided him.

PETALING JAYA: Muhyiddin Yassin’s final speech as the country’s eighth prime minister received a mixed bag of responses on social media.

While many praised his contributions throughout his 17 months in charge, which makes him the country’s shortest serving prime minister, more social media users chided him for his seemingly “defensive” final address to the nation.

It was described on Twitter as a “cringefest” by @Kama7esh, with @JeffSandhu questioning, “Did I just watch the Oscars?”

Among those with positive messages for the Pagoh MP include @hnlynnnnnn_, a user on Twitter who admitted having a “heavy heart” watching Muhyiddin resign.

“I can say he’s one of the best prime ministers ever,” said @hnlynnnnnn_.

“He helped the rakyat a lot (and) he was about to succeed in handling the pandemic, but everything ended because of some selfish parties.”

Another user, @saya_nim07, said this was the first time a prime minister’s resignation brought her to tears.

“No prime minister is perfect, but at least he’s still trying his best without blaming the rakyat and also giving a lot of aid.”

“I really feel down as I don’t see anyone else capable of taking over.”

Many others were not impressed with Muhyiddin’s address, though, which came after he admitted he lost majority support.

“We don’t want to hear your diary entry from last night,” said @AimanIAbdullah.

“All you had to do was appear on TV and say, ‘In line with the Federal Constitution, I am resigning as prime minister immediately.’ Enough.”

Stating that he had tried his best to save the Perikatan Nasional-led administration at least until it had overcome the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccination programme was completed, Muhyiddin also apologised for his mistakes and weaknesses during his tenure.

“Is Muhyiddin living in a bubble?” asked @Sheikhuzaifah.

“Still trying to defend himself after 12,000 plus deaths (due to Covid-19) and still feels he shouldn’t be blamed. You have such thick skin.”

Muhyiddin also said that he is always concerned about Malaysians as he considers them “my own children”, a statement which drew even more flak.

“Your own children haven’t even got laptops yet,” said @mandeepkarpall, referring to a government programme to provide 150,000 laptops to students for online learning which failed to meet its mark.

Others also blasted Muhyiddin for stating that he would “never conspire with kleptocrats”, an apparent reference to Umno leaders.

“Which group did you form the government with during the Sheraton Move? He’s (Muhyiddin) lost his majority and still has time to whine,” said @LagaCawan.

Another Twitter user, @maliqueredzuan, alluded to Muhyiddin collaborating with Umno for more than a year.

“Even in your final speech you want to lie!” he said.

Umno had several key appointments in the Cabinet such as deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein, vaccination minister Khairy Jamaluddin and health minister Dr Adham Baba.

On Friday, Muhyiddin, who has been under fire over the management of the pandemic and the revocation of the emergency ordinances, proposed a framework for bipartisan political cooperation, admitting that he had lost majority support.

However, this proposal was rejected by Umno and opposition leaders, with Muhyiddin then presenting his resignation to the Yang-di Pertuan Agong during an audience today. - FMT