KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is in the fight for his political life, and these 24 hours could be a decider if the embattled prime minister stays or goes.
His pre-cabinet audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong this morning saw Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah expressing his views to Muhyiddin over the latter’s support in Parliament.
This follows the opposition block sending letters to the palace in the last three days to indicate that their respective parties do not support Muhyiddin or the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Short of asking for his resignation, as widely expected, the king instead gave Muhyiddin a reprieve to be certain of his support.
At the moment, Muhyiddin is chairing the cabinet meeting, which aides say will be “a very long one”.
Then, he is scheduled to meet PN party leaders to confirm their support.
“The king would rather Muhyiddin show his numbers in Parliament with a confidence motion,” said a source close to Istana Negara.
“However, His Majesty is under pressure to remove Muhyiddin now but the concern is that no one individual may have the adequate support to form the next government,” the source added.
The king is also concerned with statutory declarations (SDs), although His Majesty entertained them during the Sheraton Move power grab last year.
“Some of those who signed SDs last year withdrawing from PH are now withdrawing support from the prime minister, so there is this issue of credibility of SDs,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Umno’s Gua Musang MP and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is seen as a viable choice among royal circles if an Umno-led government is in charge, with current Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob keeping his job.
However, there is also an option of a Razaleigh-Anwar interim government, with opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim having one foot in the door to take over the top post.
In any case, Muhyiddin is expected to fight hard to delay his removal. The fact that the Parliament session next month where a confidence motion is expected to be tabled will see fewer MPs attending physically is seen as an attempt to scuttle the motion.
Yesterday, Deputy Speaker Datuk Rashid Hasnon said not all MPs will be allowed to be physically present due to 93 Covid-19 cases detected as a “Parliament cluster”.
The Registrar of Societies decision that the Umno Supreme Council can only function in a caretaker capacity until party polls are held is also seen as an attempt to purge Umno of current president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and those opposed to Muhyiddin.
The great Umno schism sees 15 of the current 38 Umno MPs withdrawing support for Muhyiddin. The oppostion block has 105 MPs against Muhyiddin.
“The problem is, even those against Muhyiddin are fighting among themselves. They don’t want Muhyiddin, yet, they don’t want Anwar, who commands the largest block of MPs from PH, which is 94,” said another insider.
“With the other parties who are opposed to Muhyiddin and PN, they have a solid 115 seats, but they cannot reach a consensus of who among them should lead. This is the reason Muhyiddin may be staying on longer,” he said. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021
