Muhyiddin Yassin

Muhyiddin Yassin (born 1947) is a Malaysian politician who served as the country's eighth prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021. Born at Muar, Johor, as Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin, he worked in the Johor state service and led the state government for nine years, rose to deputy prime minister in 2009, was dropped from cabinet and expelled from UMNO for criticising the 1MDB scandal, and co-founded the BERSATU party with Mahathir Mohamad, through which he returned to power. ^{1 2}

Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin was born on 15 May 1947 at Muar, Johor. His father, Haji Muhammad Yassin bin Muhammad, was an Islamic theologian and cleric based in Muar; his mother, Hajjah Khadijah binti Kassim, was of Javanese descent. Educated at schools in Muar, he took a degree in Economics and Malay studies from the University of Malaya in 1971, then joined the Johor state public service and managed state-owned companies before entering electoral politics. ^{1 3}

Muhyiddin was elected MP for Pagoh in 1978 and held parliamentary-secretary and deputy-minister posts, then won a Johor state seat and served as the state's Menteri Besar from 1986 to 1995. Returning to federal politics in 1995, he held the youth and sports, domestic trade, agriculture and international trade portfolios, won the UMNO deputy presidency in 2008, and was appointed deputy prime minister and Minister of Education by Najib Razak in 2009. He drew controversy with his "Malay first" declaration, and his open criticism of the government's handling of the 1MDB scandal led Najib to drop him from cabinet in July 2015 and UMNO to expel him in 2016. He co-founded BERSATU under Mahathir and returned to cabinet as home minister after the 2018 election. ¹

When Mahathir resigned abruptly in February 2020 and the governing coalition collapsed, Muhyiddin assembled a new majority in the Perikatan Nasional coalition and was sworn in as eighth prime minister on 1 March 2020. His premiership was consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic: successive Movement Control Orders, a national vaccination programme, and a 2021 state of emergency that suspended parliament. As the crisis worsened and his majority eroded, he resigned on 16 August 2021, remaining caretaker until Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed on 21 August. In 2023 he was charged with corruption and money laundering, becoming the second former prime minister after Najib Razak to be prosecuted. ^{1 4}

Muhyiddin's father was a theologian and cleric, and as Johor's Menteri Besar he himself raised the standing of the state's religious schools and sharia courts — but no source read for this record names a religious school for him personally, family background and public office being no substitute for such an attribution, and this record records none. ^{1 2}

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