KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has criticised Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for continuing to claim he had the support of 115 Members of Parliament through statutory declarations (SDs), despite the number being disputed by the Council of Rulers and the attorney general at the time.

The prime minister stated that regarding the SDs obtained by Muhyiddin, there were overlaps involving MPs who had signed the documents, Malay news outlet Utusan Malaysia said in its report published today.

“As far as I understand, based on the views of the Rulers and the attorney general appointed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin at that time, the number was disputed, and therefore it was left to the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. That is the reality,” he said.

He made these remarks when approached by reporters after having lunch at Gertak Merah in Kampung Penchala today.

For the record, the attorney general during the crisis over the appointment of the prime minister following the 15th General Election (GE15) was Tan Sri Idrus Harun.

Anwar added that he had previously refrained from addressing the issue of Muhyiddin’s claimed support of 115 MPs, but the Bersatu president continued harping on it, causing confusion.

“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s authority is subject to the Constitution, and when the situation was unclear (because Tan Sri Muhyiddin claimed to have 115 SDs, and Anwar also claimed to have 115 SDs), the King had to revisit and review the Constitution to reassure himself.

“That is why the Federal Constitution states that the King makes his decision after reviewing all the facts. Tuanku then convened a meeting of the Conference of Rulers to discuss the matter,” he told reporters.

The prime minister said that he did not address the issue of the 115 SDs obtained by the Pagoh MP earlier because he did not see it as an issue.

“What’s the problem? The problem is the statement that is interpreted as insulting and questioning the power of the King, that is the issue.

“If it’s true that he brought 115 SDs, but Tuanku saw that some MPs had signed in several places, and there were also parties where the MPs had given full mandate to the party leader to make the decision, and it was absolute, it couldn’t be disputed,” he said.

Muhyiddin, while campaigning in the Nenggiri by-election recently, claimed that he had 115 SDs after GE15, stating that the number was sufficient for him to become prime minister.

Muhyiddin also questioned why he was not invited by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to the Istana Negara to be appointed as prime minister.

On Wednesday, Muhyiddin submitted several documents, including the SDs, to the police while giving a statement to assist in investigations regarding his comments that allegedly touched on 3R (royalty, religion and race) issues.

Yesterday, Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that out of the 115 SDs claimed by Muhyiddin, 10 MPs had signed two SDs — one supporting PN and another supporting BN. - malaymail