The budget was passed via voice vote in the House of Representatives after the government bent backward to concede to demands from backbenchers.

The passage was widely seen as a vote of confidence in the prime minister, who has faced growing dissent from members of the ruling coalition as well as a leadership challenge from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The Supply Bill still has to go through another round of vote at the so-called "committee stage" slated on Dec. 15, before it is sent up to the Senate for approval. These subsequent stages are not expected to spring any surprises.

The government unveiled record spending for its 2021 budget at 322.5 billion ringgit ($78.12 billion) on Nov. 6 to soften the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that plunged the country into a recession this year. It will be 7.8 percent more than the 314.7 billion ringgit expenditure allocated for this year.

The budget is the first to be presented under Muhyiddin's eight-month-old administration.

Muhyiddin not only has to grapple with a pandemic and a recession, but he is also fighting to hold on to power, with only a razor-thin margin of support in the 222-seat lower house. With the recent death of two lawmakers, the government's lead over the opposition now stands at 112 seats versus 108.

The prime minister's political rivals, including from his own ruling coalition, had threatened to use the budget as a proxy no-confidence vote against him.

Muhyiddin came to power after he led a group of lawmakers of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, or Bersatu, to defect. They joined the then opposition National Front, dominated by the United Malays National Organization he once belonged to, and the Pan Islamic Party to form the ruling coalition.

He was the home affairs minister in former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's Pakatan Harapan coalition government, but the two fell out over political differences, and Mahathir has since labeled Muhyiddin a "traitor" for causing the collapse of his government in February.

Muhyiddin's ties with UMNO has since soured as the once-powerful party complained of being sidelined in major positions in the government and other key agencies, and a faction led by former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has openly voiced support for Anwar, who leads the opposition People's Justice Party, to be the new prime minister.

The tussle for power has led to unprecedented intervention from King Abdullah Ria'yatuddin, who last month appealed for bi-partisan support for the budget.

The monarch expressed confidence in Muhyiddin to lead and urged the legislators to stop their political disputes and focus on efforts to contain the surge in infections that has seen the country reporting a record number of new cases in recent weeks.

But the monarch's advice appears to have fallen on the wayside for some.

UMNO lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had publicly announced he was boycotting the budget session because he questioned the legitimacy of Muhyiddin's government.

Mahathir, in a statement on Wednesday, said he and three other legislators had decided to reject the budget "due to the sense of responsibility and trust that we hold on behalf of the people."

He said if the supply bill is not passed, "It will prove that the government has lost its legitimacy because it does not command enough majority to approve the budget. When this happens, if the prime minister is someone with dignity, he should resign."

The government has projected the gross domestic product to contract 4.5 percent this year. Before COVID-19 hit, Malaysia had forecast its economy this year to grow by 4.8 percent.

With signs of recovery as businesses open and with the government's 305 million-ringgit stimulus package doled out this year, the economy is projected to expand at a rate between 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2021.

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