Zahid notifies palace of more defectors, scoffs at PM's legitimacy

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said a further list of party MPs who have lost confidence in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been submitted to Istana Negara.

In view of this, Zahid said Muhyiddin's claim that the latter still commanded majority support from the MPs was untrue and challenged him to prove otherwise in Parliament immediately.

In a statement today, Zahid said the fresh list was submitted today. He did not state a number or provided names.

As of last night, only 11 Umno MPs, including Zahid, have revealed themselves to be against Muhyiddin. Umno has 38 MPs.

Zahid explained he had submitted the initial list - containing eight written declarations - to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on July 30.

"(That list alone) was enough to prove that Muhyiddin no longer commands the majority, although the actual number is larger than that," said Zahid.

In view of the Umno supreme council's decision yesterday (Aug 3) to withdraw support for Muhyiddin and Perikatan Nasional, the number of defectors has grown, he said.

Earlier today, Muhyiddin, in a televised address, claimed that he still commanded majority support and will put it to the test when Parliament reconvenes in September.

The withdrawal of support from the 11 Umno MPs and the position held by a group of 105 opposition MPs have cast Muhyiddin's claim in doubt.

At the time of writing, Muhyiddin has not placed a figure on his numbers. - Mkini