Emergency an admission of defeat by Muhyiddin, says Nazri

 

Nazri Aziz says it’s logical for the prime minister to impose emergency as he has lost his majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

KUALA LUMPUR: Today’s announcement of an emergency by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is an admission of defeat and shows he has lost the majority support, Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz said.

Nazri, who withdrew his support for the Perikatan Nasional government, said that Muhyiddin has to call for a general election as he does not have the majority support of the Dewan Rakyat.

“But as we all know, how can we hold an election during the current Covid-19 pandemic?” he asked.

“For me, when he (Muhyiddin) applied for the emergency, it means he admitted he has lost and no longer enjoys majority support. It’s logical for him to ask for an emergency,” he said at a press conference here today.

Nazri is the second Umno MP to retract his support for the PN government after Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub did so last week.

Nazri said he expects two or three more MPs to withdraw their support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has not stated his stand but did not support the 2021 budget proposal by the PN government.

Umno divisions say no to PPBM

At his press conference, Nazri said he had received many complaints from Umno grassroots over the way the party had been treated by the government.

Citing how 143 Umno divisions had submitted motions urging the party to break ties with PPBM, he said the next step was only formalising the motions to make it the official party stand.

This involves tabling the motion at the Umno annual general assembly.

“The Umno annual general assembly scheduled for Jan 31 now cannot be held, so I decided to make an announcement today.

“Based on the mandate given by the Padang Rengas Umno division and the party Supreme Council, today I want to announce that I officially retract my support for the prime minister to form the current government.

“I have spent a long time pondering over this decision and I am making it in the best interest of my party,” he said.

Umno has been pressuring the PN government to call for a snap election since the new year. Nazri’s announcement means the PN government only has 110 MPs in its bloc in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.

The Umno Supreme Council has deferred any decision on the party’s support for PPBM to its annual general assembly scheduled for the end of this month. It’s not likely to be held if the movement control order is extended beyond Jan 26.

Earlier today, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, declared a state of emergency to stem the recent rise of Covid-19 cases. The emergency will last until Aug 1, or an earlier date if Covid-19 cases are reduced by then.

Nazri likened the announcement to the state of emergency announced before the Batu Sapi and Gerik by-elections.

“It’s the same thing here,” he said. “The emergency is being called so as not to call an election.” - FMT