MUHYIDDIN NOW TOTALLY IN UMNO’S POWER – THE BLACK & WHITE SHOWS HE ONLY HAS A 2-SEAT MAJORITY – IMAGINE IF A NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE HAD NOT BEEN BANNED & MPs SHOWED THEIR TRUE COLOURS, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN TOPPLED

The seating arrangement for the Dewan Rakyat sitting today showed that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin commanded majority support of the House.

The plan, produced by the Parliament staff, indicated that there are 114 MPs aligned to the government.

This meant that Muhyiddin (Bersatu-Pagoh) commanded a wafer-thin majority of three.

Muhyiddin will go down in history as a PM who was appointed with the slimmest of majorities after Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Bersatu-Langkawi) in May 2018 (10-seat majority).

The list of government MPs, sorted by alphabetically by party, are in the following table.  – MKINI

Sri Aman MP says he is opposition, clarifies seating mix up

Another layer of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s wafer-thin majority of three seats was peeled when Sri Aman MP Masir Kujat clarified he is still part of the federal and Sarawak opposition.

In a statement this evening, the Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) member clarified he was assigned a seat together with Perikatan Nasional (PN) backbenchers in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

“As the seat had been fixed, I had no choice but to sit at my assigned place.

“I wish to clarify that I am a member of PSB’s presidential council and PSB is an opposition party at both the federal and state levels.

“I should not have been arranged by the speaker to be seated with PN backbenchers as PSB does not support PN,” he added.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that the seating arrangement for the Dewan Rakyat sitting showed that Muhyiddin commanded the majority support of the House.

The plan, produced by the Parliament staff, indicated that there are 114 MPs (including Masir) aligned to the government.

This meant that Muhyiddin (Bersatu-Pagoh) commanded a wafer-thin majority of three.

Muhyiddin will go down in history as a PM who was appointed with the slimmest of majorities after Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Bersatu-Langkawi) in May 2018 (10-seat majority).

In an immediate reaction, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil (photo) tweeted that with Masir’s clarification, PN’s seats have been reduced to 113.

“Majority (of seats) two, the smallest in Malaysia’s Parliament history. Anytime can…,” he added, without completing the sentence but obviously pointing out the current administration is on thin ice.

In February, Masir had declared his support for Muhyiddin as premier but changed his mind a day later to then side with Mahathir.

However, the seating arrangement for Masir this morning had sparked speculation that he had switched allegiance to PN.

For the record, Masir is the sole MP from PSB.

PSB had announced its intention to contest against Pakatan Harapan in the next state election, but it is currently with the opposition on the grounds that the people’s mandate in general should be respected. -MKINI

King: I asked Dr M not to resign as PM but he stuck with his decision

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was asked not to resign but he went ahead with his decision, says the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Almarhum Sultan Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah.

The King said, on Feb 24, the country was shaken by the resignation of the seventh prime minister.

Following which, an audience was granted to Dr Mahathir to discuss the matter.

“In the audience, I had asked Dr Mahathir not to resign. However, he stuck with his decision.

“Therefore, I am responsible to appoint a new prime minister as required by the Federal Constitution.

“Article 43 of the Constitution gives the discretionary powers to me to appoint a member of the Dewan Rakyat, who in my view, commands the majority support of the House,” said the King in his Royal address at the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (May 18).

Following which, the King said he had met each MP from the Dewan Rakyat to determine their support of a rightful candidate.

On Feb 29, the King even asked each political party in the country to submit a name as their candidate for the prime minister’s post.

Based on the request from the head of political parties, the King said he had granted a request to extend the period for political parties to submit their nomination to the post so they have ample time to decide in a democratic manner.

“In every competition, there will be an ending. The political turmoil in the country cannot be allowed to be prolonged without an ending.

“Therefore, after going through all the processes and in line with the Federal Constitution, I found that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had the majority support of the members of the Dewan Rakyat.

“And therefore was rightfully appointed as the eighth Prime Minister,” he said.

The King added that he had conducted his duties in a transparent, trustworthy and fair manner, in line with the concept of Constitutional monarchy as well as Parliamentary democracy.

“At the same time, I appreciate the maturity and cooperation of all lawmakers and the rakyat who have played a part for me to carry on my duties,” he said. – ANN

MKINI /ANN