Should PKR president Anwar Ibrahim succeed in forming a new government, he will be under the influence of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib Abdul Razak, forecasted Langkawi MP Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
In a statement today, Mahathir deduced that some of the Umno MPs who are backing Anwar would certainly be Zahid and Najib's followers.
"It is a certainty that (the Umno MPs) who support Anwar are more loyal to (either) Najib or Zahid.
"If the wishes of (Najib and Zahid) are not fulfilled, then (the Umno MPs) will (again) do what they did to Muhyiddin (Yassin) which is to withdraw their support and bring down the (new) government," he said.
Mahathir also observed that political support from Umno was "conditional", just as it was for the Perikatan Nasional government.
Yesterday, Anwar claimed he had secured "solid and convincing" majority support from MPs to form a new government.
With this, he claimed that Prime Minister Muhyiddin's government had collapsed.
The claim was reinforced by an official statement from Zahid, who claimed that "many" Umno and BN MPs have expressed support for Anwar.
Muhyiddin has no majority
With Umno backing for Anwar, Mahathir stressed that Muhyiddin's two-seat majority in the Dewan Rakyat had truly evaporated.
The former premier has repeatedly opposed and disputed Muhyiddin's prime minister-ship.
"If we accept that Zahid's statement is true and is based on his position as Umno and BN chief, this means Muhyiddin can no longer stress he has a solid majority to be the PM.
"The important thing now is to study whether the PM still has the majority to remain in his position. Whether Anwar has a majority or not is a separate thing that he (Anwar) will need to prove," he said.
The Federal Constitution stipulates that the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is to appoint as prime minister the MP who in his judgement is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the 222 MPs.
Should a prime minister lose support, it is also up to the ruler whether to request the premier to resign or to dissolve parliament.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin stressed he was still in power and challenged Anwar to prove his claim.
Anwar has thus far declined to reveal the exact number of MPs on his side, explaining that this information was reserved for the Agong's ears. - Mkini
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