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