Malaysia's Muhyiddin Yassin stepped down as prime minister after months of political turmoil culminated in the loss of his majority, but his resignation is likely to open another chapter of instability in the absence of any obvious successor.
Muhyiddin's resignation ends a tumultuous 17 months in office, the shortest stint of a Malaysian leader, but hampers the efforts to reboot a pandemic-stricken economy and curb a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.
The Southeast Asian nation's king appointed Muhyiddin as the caretaker prime minister until a new one is found, but did not set a timeline.
King Al-Sultan Abdullah ruled out elections because of the pandemic, saying he would invoke his constitutional power to appoint a prime minister he deems is likely to command a majority.
Malaysia's ringgit currency fell to a one-year low on the news and the stock market plummets.
Muhyiddin said he had resigned along with his cabinet after losing majority support in parliament. As caretaker, he added, he will have no cabinet, but will perform executive functions and advise the king until a new prime minister is appointed.
It was not clear who could form the next government, as no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament. The opposition bloc and the biggest party are split on support for their prime ministerial candidates.
It was unclear if a new prime minister can be picked soon, said Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod, a law expert at International Islamic University of Malaysia.
"There is no one currently who could command a majority, so they are now coercing each other to support the candidate that they are putting forward," he said.
The top contenders to be prime minister include Muhyiddin's deputy Ismail Sabri Yaakob, veteran lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein, all from UMNO (United Malays National Organization), often termed as the "Malaysia's Grand Old Party".
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim could also stake a claim.
Muhyiddin's grip on power had been precarious since he took office with a slim majority in March 2020, appointed by the king after joining hands with parties defeated in the 2018 polls, including UMNO.
But he has been beset with coalition infighting due to tension with UMNO.
Muhyiddin had said that the recent crisis was brought on by his refusal of demands such as dropping corruption charges against some individuals.
UMNO politicians faced corruption charges, include former premier Najib Razak and party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. They have denied wrongdoings and were among those who withdrew support for Muhyiddin.