Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faced calls to resign on Monday as doubts swirled over the support that he commands, after the king rejected his request to declare a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus epidemic.

Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah rejected on Sunday a proposal by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for him to declare a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis, saying that he did not see the need.

A former interior minister was sworn in as Malaysia's premier Sunday, marking the return of a scandal-mired party to power after a reformist government's collapse but ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad, 94, slammed the move as illegal.