Muhyiddin invited me to join him, says Shafie Apdal

Amid the political horse-trading that followed the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government, Shafie Apdal believes that Muhyiddin Yassin was prepared to offer him to be his number two in exchange for support.

This was revealed by the Warisan president during an interview with the press today.

"Haha. You ask him," he said in jest when asked whether the Bersatu president, who became the prime minister in March, had offered Shafie the post of deputy prime minister.

This came after Shafie spilt the tea about Muhyiddin having approached him to get Warisan support to further strengthen PN.

"He did not spell it out, but I know about that," Shafie added.

Malaysiakini has contacted Muhyiddin's office for a response to Shafie's remarks and is awaiting a response.

According to the Sabah chief minister, Muhyiddin had contacted him about two weeks after PN came to power, suggesting a meeting between them.

"Only when he held the position (as prime minister), for a couple of weeks, I think, he did text me. He said it was the right time for us to talk," he said.

"This was quite some time ago. It was through text messages."

However, Shafie said he was more interested to talk about government-to-government issues between Sabah and the federal administration then to discuss joining PN.

Prepare for snap polls

Meanwhile, on a related matter, Shafie said the opposition should start preparing for a snap election.

He believed that an election might be just around the corner, especially with the current political uncertainty.

Citing what happened in the Parliament on Monday as an example, where Muhyiddin had only 111 votes in support of his motion to change the Dewan Rakyat speaker versus 109 who voted against, Shafie said the prime minister might go for dissolution of the august House.

"We must realise it, from the result of yesterday (in Parliament) also, and the pressure coming in (against Muhyiddin), anything can happen.

"You can imagine 109 votes (against him) in the Parliament and the tabling of the budget for next year, coming in a couple of months...

"I mean, if you don't get the majority, it would be a very, very awkward position for the ruling government. Even now people can question them, that they do not even have a simple majority.

"By right... by the principle, normally people will just say, 'All right, let's go for dissolution because we don't have a majority'," Shafie said.

Shafie also supported the idea of having a general election to resolve the lack of a clear majority by any side in the Dewan Rakyat.

He said a hung Parliament would leave the country in a state of "neither here nor there" when the country needs clarity to unite the people and rehabilitate its economy.

It would also not be good for the opposition to form a government with a single-digit majority, Shafie added, saying that it would make them being held at ransom.

"I believe that the people are also fed up with politicians now.

"If you ask me, let's have an election. For me, I don't want this to be blamed on us." - Mkini