‘Incompetent or politicking? Either way, Art Harun unfit as speaker’

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has taken the Dewan Rakyat speaker to task over the latter’s apparent failure to inform Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of MPs who have retracted their support for him as prime minister. 

Speaking to The Vibes, the opposition leader said Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun notified the public when veteran Umno lawmaker Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah withdrew support for Muhyiddin.

This happened before the start of the special parliamentary session last month, he said.

“Given that so many letters have gone to the speaker and the king, why in the world has he not informed the prime minister?

“Moreover, when Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah withdrew his support, the speaker thought it appropriate to inform all.

“This continues to show that the speaker is unfit for the job.”

The PKR president stressed that the issue is far more serious this time around, seeing that 15 Umno lawmakers have written to Istana Negara on their decision to pull support for the Muhyiddin administration, which could very well lead to the collapse of the Perikatan Nasional government.

He questioned whether Azhar is simply incompetent or playing politics to prop up an ailing government, to allow a prime minister who has seemingly lost his majority to remain in power.

Fifteen of Umno’s 38 MPs have withdrawn support for Muhyiddin. The opposition bloc, meanwhile, has 105 lawmakers.

There are 220 living MPs. Two seats in the House are vacant due to the deaths of their lawmakers.

Earlier today, it was reported that a letter purportedly issued by Azhar to Muhyiddin is fake.

The letter, which went viral on social media, was an apparent notification to the prime minister that his government had lost its parliamentary majority. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021