Muhyiddin was sworn in as Malaysia’s eighth prime minister on March 1 following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government and a week-long political drama as the nation held its breath to see who would take control of Putrajaya.
The following are the key events of the PN administration’s first year in government:
PM announces the movement control order (MCO)
Just two weeks after coming into power, Muhyiddin announced the first nationwide lockdown to tackle rising Covid-19 cases, introducing the MCO which was slated to last for two weeks.
The MCO, implemented on March 18, would later be extended until May 4, when the conditional MCO then took its place.
Muhyiddin announces RM250 billion stimulus package, and more
To aid businesses and the people during the lockdown, the prime minister announced the RM250 billion Prihatin economic stimulus package, with RM128 billion allocated for people’s welfare and RM100 billion for businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
To boost Malaysia’s economic recovery, Muhyiddin would go on to announce a few more aid packages, namely Prihatin SME+, Penjana, Kita Prihatan and, most recently, Permai.
Automatic loan moratorium
On March 24, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) told banks to grant an automatic moratorium on loan repayments to individuals and SMEs.
The moratorium expired on Sept 30 and banking institutions are now offering targeted repayment assistance, although there have been numerous calls for the blanket moratorium to be further extended.
PM reiterates commitment to tackle corruption
On July 16, Muhyiddin said the PN government would continue efforts to curb corruption according to the National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019 to 2023, which was started by PH.
Despite Malaysia slipping two points in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 in January this year, Muhyiddin has maintained that there would be no compromise on corruption.
Deputy minister resigns, joins Dr M’s faction
Shahruddin Md Salleh of PPBM announced his resignation as the deputy works minister in June, becoming the first MP to quit the ruling alliance. He joined Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s ex-PPBM faction, who would later form Pejuang, in the opposition bloc.
Malaysia goes into recovery mode
With Covid-19 cases tapering off, the nation went into a recovery MCO from June 10.
The RMCO saw nearly all social activities, including religious activities, and those in the education and business sectors reopened in stages as life returned to some semblance of normality.
At the time, Malaysia had been hailed as among the best globally in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zero local Covid-19 cases
Malaysia reported zero local Covid-19 infections on July 1, the first time since going into lockdown in March. There was only one imported case, involving a Malaysian returning from Turkey.
The nation would go on to record zero local cases for a few days at the time, before the surge of cases in Sabah.
New Dewan Rakyat speaker and deputy
In July, during the first Parliament sitting under PN, former Election Commission chairman Azhar Azizan Harun replaced Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who was removed as Dewan Rakyat speaker.
Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said was later confirmed as the new deputy speaker of the lower house, replacing DAP’s Nga Kor Ming who resigned after Ariff’s removal.
Sabah goes to the polls, GRS takes control
Sabah went to the polls in September, amid rising cases in the state, after former chief minister Musa Aman had attempted to oust Shafie Apdal’s government through defections from Warisan and its allies.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), a coalition comprising PN, Barisan Nasional and PBS, won the polls and wrested power from Warisan Plus, winning 38 of the 73 seats in the state assembly.
Third wave of Covid-19 outbreaks, restrictions reimposed
The Sabah state polls were quickly followed by a surge of Covid-19 cases, which eventually led to infections quickly spreading to the peninsula.
Putrajaya reimposed movement restrictions in response to this, with several states and federal territories going under CMCO while people returning from Sabah were eventually required to undergo mandatory quarantine.
As most of the nation went under another round of MCO on Jan 13, albeit with looser restrictions, Malaysia reported its record high of 5,728 cases on Jan 30 and record high 25 deaths on Feb 18.
Ministers and deputies’ SOP hiccups
In April, deputy health minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali was fined RM1,000 after attending a lunch event at a religious school in Perak during the MCO.
A few months later, plantation industries and commodities minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali was fined the same amount after coming under fire for not observing the mandatory 14-day quarantine rule after returning from a visit to Turkey.
Senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob had also been accused of flouting SOPs after pictures of him allegedly failing to practice physical distancing at a restaurant in Melaka went viral.
Most recently, federal territories minister Annuar Musa drew criticism after a photo circulated on social media showing the former BN secretary-general dining at the same table with six other people at an event in Kuala Lumpur, during MCO 2.0.
King turns down PM’s first emergency proposal
In late October, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah decided against declaring an emergency, despite a proposal from Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin’s proposal came amid the third wave of Covid-19 infections, political instability and the tabling of the 2021 budget.
Muhyiddin survives budget vote
The 2021 budget was finally passed with a three-vote majority, effectively proving Muhyiddin’s majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.
It was passed narrowly with 111 ayes, 108 nays and one abstention. Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had abstained while two of the 222 MPs had passed away earlier that year— Liew Vui Keong (Warisan-Batu Sapi) and Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik).
Govt strikes Pfizer deal for 12.8 million doses
In November, the government signed an agreement with Pfizer to procure some 12.8 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
The national Covid-19 immunisation programme has just been rolled out last week, in what the nation hopes to be the first step towards normality.
PN’s instability reaches new heights
Instability in the government reached new heights in January with two Umno MPs announcing their withdrawal of support for PN, namely Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz and Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub.
Their decision came amid reports that 143 Umno divisions had submitted motions urging the party to break ties with PPBM. Umno has deferred their decision on this until their annual general assembly is held.
King proclaims emergency, states go under MCO again
On Jan 12, the King proclaimed a state of emergency until Aug 1, in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Just a day prior, Muhyiddin said five states and the three federal territories would go under an MCO lockdown for 14 days. This was later expanded to the whole of the peninsula, before certain states were placed under a CMCO again.
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