30 BN MPs held 'secret meeting' to sign SDs supporting PM - report

 

A group of 30 BN MPs reportedly held a secret meeting last night at Wisma Perwira - a Defence Ministry premises in Kuala Lumpur - where they were believed to have signed statutory declarations to retain Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.

Malay daily Sinar Harian quoted sources from among the BN MPs who attended the meeting, who said the face-to-face meeting that began at 9pm was chaired by BN Backbenchers chairperson Shahidan Kassim (above) and also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The sources reportedly said the SDs needed to be prepared as they were alleged attempts to deny the support of 40 BN MPs who want Muhyiddin's PN government retained in power.

"The gathering started with dinner being served before the 30 BN MPs present agreed to sign SDs retaining support for Muhyiddin and PN's administration.

"The meeting was chaired by Arau MP (Shahidan), with Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob given room to make a welcoming speech," one of the sources was quoted as saying.

"The remaining 10 MPs who previously declared their support before this were unable to attend as they were only notified of the secret meeting at the last minute.

"However, all of them are guaranteed to sign the SD through an appointed representative," the BN MP added.

The meeting last night was held amid the fresh suspension of Parliament, initially scheduled to convene today for the last sitting of the current session, over concerns that it could be a coronavirus superspreader event.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah issued the warning as a risk assessment conducted after the discovery of 11 positive cases among individuals in Parliament last week found some of them to be highly infectious.

Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob

Separately, an Umno source confirmed with Malaysiakini that Ismail had chaired the meeting at Wisma Pertahanan last night, but cited a lower attendance of 26 MPs, including from MIC and MCA.

The source also said MCA president Wee Ka Siong had joined the discussion via Zoom.

Prior to the meeting, Ismail had confirmed a statement of support for Muhyiddin by 40 out of 42 BN MPs, issued after a meeting in Parliament last Thursday, when a royal rebuke against PN had once again raised questions over its legitimacy as the government.

The Bera MP's clarification followed a dispute raised by BN executive secretary Mohamad Sahfri Ab Aziz, who denounced the statement as fake and added that there was an issue with the use of the BN letterhead.

Subsequently, Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz also confirmed the meeting of 40 BN MPs in parliament, with two absentees - Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Bagan Datuk MP Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - as being the only ones not in support of Muhyiddin. - Mkini