Malaysian PM unseats house speaker in vote seen as crucial test of support

Malaysia`s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin cleared a major hurdle in parliament on Monday, as lawmakers narrowly approved a motion to remove the lower house speaker, in a vote seen as an important barometer of his support.

While not officially a confidence vote, the outcome was the first real measure of how much legislative backing Muhyiddin could muster to push through policies and government business.

A total of 111 lawmakers supported Muhyiddin`s bid to remove Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who was appointed by the previous administration led by Mahathir Mohamad, while 109 voted against the move.

Southeast Asia`s third-largest economy has been grappling with political and policy uncertainty since Muhyiddin, who was part of Mahathir`s administration, was unexpectedly made prime minister in March after forging an alliance with the graft-tainted UMNO party that was defeated in a 2018 election.