KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 ― Former Kedah mentri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir has expressed his bewilderment at those asking Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to step down over the latter's loss of support in Parliament.

In a Twitter post, Mukhriz claimed these were the same people who insisted that his father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, should not have resigned as prime minister after losing Bersatu’s support last year.

"It’s incredible the same people who claim TSMY should resign as PM because he has lost majority insist that @chedetofficial should never have resigned when LangkahSheraton happened. Read Article 43 FedConsti @BFMradio,” Mukhriz wrote today.

Article 43 of the Federal Constitution allows the Yang diPertuan Agong to appoint a federal lawmaker as the prime minister if he believed the latter commanded the majority support in Parliament.

Dr Mahathir resigned as the PM last year after Bersatu withdrew from Pakatan Harapan that was the ruling coalition at the time.

Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional coalition then took over as the government but he was believed to have commanded the support of just 113 MPs in Parliament.

At least three Umno federal lawmakers have publicly renounced their support for Muhyiddin, nominally robbing him of the majority needed to stay in power.