Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Muhyiddin Yassin has urged a new government in his Malaysia Day message.

He said the people now face a choice between seeing the country succeeding or descending into a failed state.

“A new government that is trustworthy and with integrity has to be formed through a free, fair and democratic electoral process.

“This government that will be formed must put the interest of the rakyat above all else.

“The people’s power will decide the country’s future. Whether we want a country that is successful and well or a failed country in chaos. All are in the hands of the people,” he said in a statement today.

Muhyiddin, who is the former deputy prime minister, said this new government needs to restore the economy, provide job opportunities, improve incomes and reduce cost of living burdens.

He added that the new government must also implement institutional reforms and manage the country based on the principles of good governance and trustworthiness.

At present, he claimed the country is facing a crisis.

“Cost of living keeps rising, daily necessities are expensive. The ringgit’s value is low. The people’s income is impacted by a gloomy economy,” he said.

Muhyiddin claimed that the current government, of which he was formerly part of, had failed to address these issues.

“The country’s economy is poorly managed, corruption is rampant, severe leakages and wastage in government spending makes it difficult to distribute the government's limited resources to sectors important to the people such as education, healthcare, public transformation, rural development, welfare and others,” he said.

As such, Muhyiddin urged the people not to vote in leaders who have “breached public trust”.

“In conjunction with the 53rd Malaysia Day, let us unite as one people with a new commitment to start a journey towards a better Malaysia,” he said.

Last week, Muhyiddin formally registered Bersatu, an Umno splinter party, in a bid to challenge the ruling coalition.

He was removed as deputy prime minister and subsequently as Umno deputy president due to his critical stance on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s management of the 1MDB scandal.

Najib had denied wrongdoing and said he had never taken public funds for personal gain.