KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin must be trying to mislead the king and public, or is simply lying through his teeth by saying he has majority support in Parliament, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In a Facebook broadcast today, the opposition leader said officially, there are 105 opposition MPs to the government’s 115 – before eight from Umno withdrew their support for the Perikatan Nasional administration.
“How can a prime minister issue a false and confusing statement to His Majesty the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and claim he has the numbers?
Umno said more than eight MPs are leaving PN. So, this (statement) is a continuous lie to MPs and the public. Is it not true when we say we have the majority, when the official number of opposition MPs is 105, plus the eight from Umno, that already makes for 113 MPs.
“And yet, you claim that we are the minority. The Parliament majority has already rejected you.”
The Dewan Rakyat has 220 living members, with two seats vacant due to the deaths of their MPs and by-elections delayed because of Covid-19.
Regardless of their party affiliations, said Anwar, those trying to prop up Muhyiddin’s ailing government are conspiring against democracy.
The PKR president referred to the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis that saw menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin of PAS being stripped of his position after three assemblymen defected from the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat pact.
Then state ruler Sultan Azlan Shah had summoned Perak reps outside the assembly to determine their stance and whom they supported, leading to a takeover of the administration by Umno’s Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir.
When Nizar challenged Zambry’s position, the Federal Court ruled in favour of the latter, setting a precedent for a menteri besar being booted out of office outside the assembly.
A similar situation occurred when Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir of Umno was ousted as Kedah menteri besar prior to the 2018 general election.
Anwar expressed disappointment over the civil service’s interference in the current political crisis, and specifically asked police to allow politicians to do their work.
“Please, don’t become the tool of unscrupulous politicians. Please stop conducting surveillance, intimidation, entrapment and so on.” – The Vibes, August 5, 2021
