KUALA LUMPUR — Mr Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, also known as Ku Li, is ready to serve as interim Malaysian prime minister in the interest of the country, local daily Sinar Harian reported.

The Gua Musang MP said he was willing to take on the responsibility for the sake of the people of Malaysia.

“Of course, based on the reports that we read, we do feel afraid of carrying such a responsibility, but if that is the responsibility that one must carry, then we must do it for the sake of the nation and its people,” he said in an interview with veteran journalist Johan Jaaffar.

The interview was held before the president of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), Mr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, announced the party’s decision late on Wednesday (July 7) night to pull out of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government with immediate effect.

Mr Zahid had said that Umno was withdrawing its support for the coalition led by Mr Muhyiddin Yassin because it had failed as the government.

Umno has 38 seats in the Dewan Rakyat. Fellow Barisan Nasional component parties Malaysian Chinese Association, Malaysian Indian Congress and the United Sabah People's Party have two and one each respectively.

There are nine Umno ministers in Mr Muhyiddin’s cabinet, and eight more party members serve as deputy ministers.

The decision comes hours after the Prime Minister’s Office announced the appointment of Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob as deputy prime minister. Another Umno member, Mr Hishammuddin Hussein, was promoted from foreign affairs minister to senior minister (security cluster), the post vacated by Ismail.

Mr Zahid said a new prime minister should be appointed to oversee the Covid-19 pandemic response and ensure herd immunity is achieved through vaccination.

The federal constitution does not provide for the role of interim prime minister.

In March last year, Dr Mahathir Mohamad was appointed interim prime minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong following the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Dr Mahathir had earlier resigned from office.

He served for just five days before Mr Muhyiddin took over with PN as the ruling pact. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT