Muhyiddin: I am still PM until proven otherwise

 

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has challenged PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to prove his claim that he has secured a majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

In a statement this evening, Muhyiddin maintained that his Perikatan Nasional administration was intact.

“This claim needs to be proven through the processes and procedures determined by the Federal Constitution. Without undergoing that process, Anwar’s statement is a mere allegation.

“Until that is proven, the PN government stands firm and I am the legitimate prime minister,” he said, calling on the public to remain calm.

“God willing, this issue will be handled well and in accordance with the law and the Federal Constitution,” Muhyiddin added.

The constitution allows the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide whether to ask a prime minister who has lost support to resign or dissolve Parliament.

It also stipulates that the ruler is to appoint as prime minister the MP "who in his judgement is likely to command the confidence of the majority of members in the House".

Muhyiddin's statement came swiftly after the secretaries-general of PN component parties and its allies similarly disputed Anwar’s claim.

In a joint statement, they accused the opposition leader of being "power crazy".

“His statement is nothing more than yet another attempt at garnering cheap publicity as he has done many times in the past.

“This latest act proves his greedy and power-crazy attitude where he does not care about political stability, the country’s economy or the fate of the people who have been affected badly by Covid-19,” they said.

The statement was signed by Annuar Musa (BN), Hamzah Zainudin (Bersatu), Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS), Alexander Nanta Linggi (GPS), Jahid Jahim (PBS) and Guan Dee Kohoi (Star).

Who is on Anwar’s side?

Thus far, only Amanah with its 11 MPs has declared full support for Anwar’s counter-coup plan.

DAP and its 42 MPs have signalled conditional support while the five Pejuang MPs do not appear to be onboard.

Interestingly, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed that “many” BN and Umno MPs have chosen to support Anwar but did not detail who or how many.

Umno has 39 MPs while PKR has 38 representatives.

Anwar himself has declined to reveal the exact number of MPs except to stress he had a “convincing” number that brought him “close” to a two-thirds majority.

He also teased that his majority was “much more” than six.

One needs at least 148 MPs to have a two-thirds majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.

In the last House sitting, Pakatan Harapan along with Warisan, Upko, Pejuang, Parti Sarawak Bersatu and Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman amounted to 109 seats.

PN, meanwhile, had a slim majority of 113 seats.

 - Mkini