A customer watches a televised speech by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin via mobile phone in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

The biggest party in Malaysia's ruling coalition said Thursday it was withdrawing support for the embattled prime minister and urged him to step down to make way for a new leader.

It was a major blow for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who took power in 2020 following the collapse of a reformist administration, although it was not immediately clear whether he would resign. 

His government has been racked by instability for months - it only has a razor-thin majority in parliament, and is beset by infighting between different factions. Pressure has mounted since a state of emergency was declared in January to fight the coronavirus under which parliament was suspended, with critics charging Muhyiddin was using crisis to cling to power. 

After a meeting of its top decision-making body that stretched into the early hours of Thursday, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the biggest party backing the premier, withdrew its support for him.

"UMNO respectfully urges Muhyiddin Yassin to step down to allow a new prime minister to be appointed for a limited period," party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a statement. The new leader would steer the country through a worsening virus outbreak, before fresh elections can be held, he said. "This is important to allow a new government that is truly stable and holds the mandate of the people to be formed."

The UMNO leader listed a string of what were missteps by the government that included failing to provide for those affected by on-off lockdowns.