About 50 gathered at Dataran Merdeka at 8.30pm to protest against the political crisis that resulted in Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin being named as the new prime minister earlier today.
It is unclear who organised tonight’s rally, although it appears to have started with a WhatsApp message that went viral.
The message read: “A protest has been called for 8.30pm tonight at Dataran Merdeka.
“Those who are outraged by the betrayal, let’s gather tonight at Dataran Merdeka at 830pm. See you there!”
The number of people grew to 80 at around 9.10pm.
A few placards were seen with the words: “Go away racist, sexist, homophobic kleptocrats”, “We are taking back our democracy” and “RIP democracy”.
Seen at the protest tonight is Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s granddaughter, Ineza Roussille, who produced documentary M for Malaysia, which details her grandfather’s fight with Pakatan Harapan to topple Barisan Nasional in the 2018 general election.
Just before 5pm today, Istana Negara announced Muhyiddin as having had the most support from MPs in Parliament and was named the country’s eighth prime minister.
The 72-year-old will be sworn in at the palace tomorrow at 10.30am.
His appointment as prime minister was the culmination of political manoeuvring among parties and factions that led to the collapse of the PH government.
PH is still planning to appeal the Agong’s decision on Muhyiddin with the use of statutory declarations.
Muhyiddin was said to have the support of 114 MPs, but at this juncture, some lawmakers are in the midst of switching sides. – TMI