By Ashwin Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has submitted his resignation letter as the prime minister to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, today.
The Prime Minister’s Office via a statement said that Dr Mahathir had sent the letter at 1pm.
Shortly after the announcement of his resignation as the seventh premier, Dr Mahahir had stepped down as the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman as well.
“Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has submitted his letter of resignation as the Bersatu chairman. The letter was sent to the Bersatu headquarters today,” said the party in a statement, today.
Meanwhile, Bersatu had also announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH).
PPBM president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the decision was reached by the party’s top leadership in a special meeting held yesterday.
“All Bersatu Members of Parliament will in effect pull out of Pakatan Harapan. All of them had signed a Statutory Declaration to continue to support and place their trust in Dr Mahathir as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“This decision was made after considering the current political development and the future of the country,” he said in a statement today.
On Friday, Dr Mahathir had said the PH presidential council had given him full discretion when to step down as prime minister, which would be after the Apec Summit in November.