The psywar between competing factions in Umno continues with each painting their own picture of whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin still has majority support.
This was after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that his party was withdrawing support for Muhyiddin after the party’s supreme council meeting on July 7.
Opponents have painted Zahid as misrepresenting the decision of the Umno supreme council.
Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is against withdrawing from the PN government, claimed a majority of Umno supreme council members were also not supportive of the decision.
"During the meeting, those present said they disagreed with the decision to retract our support.
"We believe that we need to settle issues involving the people first because they are burdened by many things and so, they should be our priority," he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.
Hours before Zahid's announcement, Ismail was appointed by Muhyiddin as deputy prime minister to placate the Umno in an attempt to retain support.
However, more Umno supreme council members have come out to endorse the decision to withdraw support for Muhyiddin than dispute it.
These include Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan as well as Azalina Othman, Ahmad Maslan, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Noh Omar.
Even Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin said he "respected" the party's decision despite insisting that Umno will continue to work with PN parties in Sabah.
The latest to publicly endorse the decision is Pahang Umno chief Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, who noted that the Umno general assembly had in March given the mandate to the Umno supreme council and party president to decide on when to withdraw from the PN government.
"The general assembly which is the highest decision-making body had decided as such, therefore, it must be abided by all party leaders and members, Pahang is not exempted," Wan Rosdy, who is also the Pahang menteri besar, said on Facebook.
Two main critics who claimed Zahid had misrepresented the Umno supreme council’s decision are Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and Ketereh MP Annuar Musa.
However, neither are part of the supreme council.
'All' but not all
On July 8, a mysterious statement claiming to represent "all BN MPs" was also put out stating that they are behind Muhyiddin.
The statement did not carry a letterhead nor any signatories but an aide to Ismail claimed it was "authentic" when asked for verification.
The statement was later disputed by ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also Umno's Pekan MP.
The propaganda aside, indications are that Zahid has the support of a majority of Umno supreme council members.
However, he does not control majority support among Umno's 38 MPs.
Muhyiddin has a four-seat majority in the Dewan Rakyat, which means Zahid only needs a handful of Umno MPs to shave off the prime minister's parliamentary majority.
Umno's Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor was the latest MP to back the decision to withdraw support for Muhyiddin.
"As the Cameron Highlands MP, my position is consistent with the decision by Wan Rosdy, who is also the Pahang Umno chief and Cameron Highlands Umno chief," he said in a statement.
Based on Malaysiakini's tracking, this means Zahid has the support of at least nine Umno MPs.
However, he is unlikely to oust Muhyiddin any time soon.
Attorney-general Idrus Harun had said Muhyiddin can continue on as prime minister as his majority cannot be decided by Zahid's statement.
He said the majority must be decided by the MPs themselves.
Parliament will only convene on July 26. - Mkini
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