Pakatan Harapan today denied they entered a confidence and supply agreement (CSA) to back the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
The opposition coalition's secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (above), when contacted, refuted claims they signed an agreement to support the Muhyiddin Yassin administration in Parliament.
"This matter was discussed by Pakatan Harapan leadership.
"All parties in Pakatan Harapan are of the view that there is no need to enter a CSA with PN," he told Malaysiakini.
The CSA refers to a mooted compromise under which the opposition neither rejects the budget nor will it propose a no-confidence vote in Parliament that, if passed, would trigger a general election.
Umno last week withdrew support for the prime minister but allowed its MPs to make their own decisions during Dewan Rakyat votes including on votes of no confidence.
Umno supreme council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, in a leaked audio recording believed to be from an Umno supreme council meeting, said the PN government would not necessarily collapse if Umno withdrew its support.
He suggested that the PN government may cut a deal with the DAP for its survival.
Similarly, in another leaked audio circulated online, the party's vice president Ismail Sabri Yaakob purportedly said that a CSA has been signed according to his understanding.
However, the deputy prime minister didn't mention which party had signed the CSA with the PN government.
On Wednesday, Padang Rengas MP Mohamed Nazri Aziz said he believed a CSA was signed between DAP and the PN government, according to a Sinar Harian report.
He said the fact that Muhyiddin promised to give out food baskets worth RM300,000 to all MPs, including those from the opposition parties, was a sign that a CSA has been reached.
Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun yesterday said that the prime minister has decided the first session of the full Dewan Rakyat sitting will commence on Sept 6.
Saifuddin added that he believes the rumour was a deliberate attempt to drag Harapan into Umno's internal struggle.
"We take this as an attempt... to stop the Umno supreme council from withdrawing its support for the prime minister," he said.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also refuted claims on the CSA.
When contacted, the former finance minister said DAP has no interest in getting involved in Umno’s internal struggle.
“It’s all lies... tell them not to drag DAP in because of their internal struggle. We have no interest in playing such dirty politics.
“We hope they don’t drag DAP in. There is no such thing at all.”
He was asked to comment on Umno leaders claiming that DAP had signed a CSA to support the PN government.
Lim further said he had not met Muhyiddin Yassin since he became prime minister, and therefore it was impossible for the two to sign a CSA.
“Since he (Muhyiddin) became the prime minister, I haven’t met him once. How to sign a CSA?”
When pressed on whether Muhyiddin had tried to lobby for DAP’s support, Lim refused to comment. - Mkini
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