Ms Ariel Tan, Deputy Head of Policy Studies and Coordinator of the Malaysia programme from Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), told CNA that the Prime Minister of the Perikatan Nasional government, Mr Muhyiddin, has to assuage public unhappiness over the recent spate of “political machinations”, a spike in COVID-19 infections and economic hardship. She noted that the manner in which Mr Muhyiddin came to power has affected his ability to lead a stable government, but that his pledge to fight corruption and form a clean government gave him some “breathing space from angry voters” who had voted against BN in 2018 over the corruption scandals.