From hero to zero: Muhyiddin’s spectacular fall from grace

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s downfall is the perfect example of how much things can change in politics within years.

Bereft of support, he yesterday announced he will relinquish the top post in Putrajaya, just six years after he was heralded as a national hero for speaking out against then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the height of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Then holding the position of the country’s number two, Muhyiddin was the first in Najib’s cabinet to sing a different tune to his boss with regard to the mega financial scandal, when others around him continued to ardently back Najib.

A 70-minute scathing speech during an Umno division meeting on July 26, 2015 took the nation – and to an extent the government – by surprise, as the maverick Muhyiddin pressed Najib to quit as 1MDB adviser and alleged that Barisan Nasional (BN) would lose if a general election was called then.

Muhyiddin was removed as deputy prime minister just two days later, and sacked from Umno in June the following year, as he began his years-long quest for political reform.


- More -