Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned less than 18 months into his tenure becoming the country’s shortest-ruling leader after conceding that he lost majority.

Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin wrote on Instagram that “the Cabinet has tendered our resignation” to the king, shortly after Muhyiddin left the palace after meeting the monarch.

Muhyidddin’s departure will plunge the country into a fresh crisis amid a worsening pandemic. Political leaders have already begun to jostle for the top post, with his deputy Ismail Sabri rallying support to succeed Muhyiddin and keep the government intact.

His resignation comes on the back of mounting public anger over what was widely perceived as his government’s poor handling of the pandemic. Malaysia has one of the world’s highest infection rates and deaths per capita, with daily cases breaching 20,000 this month despite a seven-month state of emergency and a lockdown since June to tackle the crisis.

Muhyiddin’s government had had a razor-thin majority and dodged leadership tests in Parliament from the start. It finally fell when over a dozen lawmakers from the biggest party in his alliance pulled their support for his government.

Under Malaysia’s constitution, the prime minister must resign if he loses majority support and the king can appoint a new leader who he believes has the confidence of Parliament.

The king can decide on a new leader, but currently, no one coalition can claim a majority. A three-party alliance, which is the biggest opposition bloc, has nominated its leader Anwar Ibrahim as a candidate for prime minister. But the bloc has under 90 lawmakers, short of the 111 needed for a simple majority. That’s also less than the 100 lawmakers believed to be backing Muhyiddin.

Other contenders include Deputy Prime Minister Ismail who is from UMNO, but it’s unclear if a deal can be struck and if the king will accept it.

Local media said another possible candidate was Razaleigh Hamzah, an 84-year-old prince who was a former finance minister. Razaleigh, who is an UMNO lawmaker, is seen as a neutral candidate that could unite the warring factions in UMNO.