Opposition says viral claim of 118 MPs with SDs is fake

The office of opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, who is Perikatan Nasional secretary-general, said the claim is fake.

PETALING JAYA: Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin has dismissed as fake a viral claim that 118 opposition MPs had been granted an audience with the King with sworn statements.

Hamzah’s office posted an image of the claim, with a large warning to state it was false.

The fake statement quoted Hamzah, who is Perikatan Nasional secretary-general, as claiming that the 118 MPs would be meeting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with their respective statutory declarations and that they were confident a new government could be finalised after the audience.

The claim is similar to that made by controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin on Friday that 120 MPs have sent statutory declarations to the King, stating that they do not support Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.

The fake statement that went viral.

Any MP hoping to become prime minister needs the support of a majority (112 or more) of the 222-member Dewan Rakyat. Anwar’s government has the support of 147 MPs through his alliance of Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, East Malaysian parties, and other MPs.

Talk of MPs switching sides was heightened when a government official alleged that opposition leaders and some government representatives met in Dubai to hold talks about forming a new government.

Anwar has dismissed talk of the so-called Dubai Move, while his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he was aware of it even before the people involved landed in the United Arab Emirates.

Yesterday, Zahid also said statutory declarations were no longer useful for any backdoor change of government after the introduction of the anti-hopping law in 2022. He said any decision to switch support for the prime minister must be made en bloc. - FMT