Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had declared the state of emergency illegally and is now using the power to run a dictatorship, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former prime minister in his blog post today pointed out that the legitimacy of the Muhyiddin government was also in doubt when he presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the advice to declare an emergency.

"The declaration itself did not follow the law on the declaration of emergency. The declaration had to be laid before Parliament. This was not done. Therefore the declaration is illegal.

"It is also noted that at the time the prime minister advised the Agong to declare a state of emergency, his claim to be the prime minister of Malaysia was in doubt.

"But the government doesn’t care about its status. The gazette that it...