Malaysian PM Mahathir submits resignation letter

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday submitted his resignation letter to the King, said his office.

"Mahathir Mohamad had sent a letter of resignation as Prime Minister of Malaysia today," Xinhua news agency quoted the Prime Minister's Office as saying in a statement.

The 94-year-old Prime Minister's decision comes after it was reported on Sunday that his party was planning to form a new government which would exclude his successor and People's Justice Party (PKR) President Anwar Ibrahim.

Earlier on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Anwar Ibrahim met Mahathir at his personal residence.

Mahathir returned as Prime Minister after the Pakatan Harapan, or the Alliance of Hope coalition, won the general election in May 2018.

He is also the chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), one of the four component parties of the coalition.

Shortly before the resignation statement, PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin announced that he was quitting the Pakatan Harapan coalition with the party's supreme council making the decision after a meeting on February 23.

"All members of the House of Representatives of the party are also out of Pakatan Harapan. All of them have signed the oath to continue to support and trust Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister of Malaysia," the PPBM president said.

"This decision is made taking into account the current and future political developments of the country," he said.