Malaysian protestors defy COVID lockdown and demand prime minister’s resignation

dpa Bangkok Several hundred people in Kuala Lumpur protested against the Malaysian government on Saturday, despite a ban on public gatherings as part of a ...

dpaBangkokSeveral hundred people in Kuala Lumpur protested against the Malaysian government on Saturday, despite a ban on public gatherings as part of a “total” coronavirus lockdown.While the demonstration passed off without incident, police stopped protestors from entering a landmark plaza in the city and said they would question the organizers.Carrying placards reading “failed government,” protestors demanded Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resign for allegedly misleading the country’s king and mishandling the pandemic.Daily coronavirus cases have more than quadrupled since a third lockdown was imposed in May, hitting a new daily high of almost 18,000 infections on Saturday.Saturday’s demonstration followed demands made in parliament last week by opposition lawmakers and some of Muhyiddin’s coalition that he step down.Muhyiddin was accused of breaking protocol by not getting King Abdullah’s sign-off for the scheduled end of emergency rule on Sunday.Last week’s parliamentary sitting was the first this year after the body was suspended in January due to a second wave of the virus.After the king issued a statement criticising the government on Thursday, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim tabled a no-confidence motion in Muhyiddin.However, the vote looks set to be shelved following a coronavirus outbreak in the parliament building on Friday, which led to the suspension of the final session, planned for Monday.