“I feel proud,” he said after noting that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had called him the “father of MCO”, the movement control order that led to lockdowns and travel restrictions.

“He does not realise that if I did not impose it, many would have been infected and would have died,” he said when meeting constituents here.

Anwar had said Muhyuddin had failed to manage the pandemic, in which some 36,000 deaths were recorded.

However Muhyiddin said that 99% of the country’s population was safe and healthy.

He also took a swipe at Anwar over the scale of the pandemic.

“I thought Anwar had studied in Universiti Malaya yet he says 36,000 casualties was the highest in the world. In the US, 1.6 million died from Covid-19. How is it that 36,000 is higher?” Muhyiddin said.

On a separate matter, Muhyiddin said that Anwar’s call for him to declare his assets was nothing more than a political gimmick.

He said he had already declared his assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and had been investigated.

“If I become the prime minister, it would be compulsory for me to declare my assets. There is no necessity now. What’s important is that PN has a track record to show it is clean,” he said.