[ad_1]
KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said a vote of no-confidence must be held in Parliament to determine whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin still has majority support to lead the government.
Tun Dr. Mahathir said on Thursday (September 24) that with Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stating that “many” Umno MPs now support opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, the slim majority of Tan Sri Muhyiddin would have been erased. .
Parliament should also vote to decide who has majority support as prime minister, Mahathir said, rather than calling a new general election amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Since Tan Sri Muhyiddin was sworn in as Prime Minister, I have called for a vote of no confidence to be held in Parliament to resolve this issue,” Dr. Mahathir said in a statement, referring to Prime Minister Muhyiddin’s questions about the majority. when he took office as president. premiere in March. “If this can be done, then we can avoid having a general election at a time when we are still fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Dr. Mahathir said this following Datuk Seri Anwar’s claim on Wednesday (September 23) that he had a “convincing and formidable” majority to form a government.
Until Anwar’s claim, Muhyiddin was considered to have 113 deputies backing him and 109 supporting the opposition.
Ahmad Zahid, responding to Anwar’s claims on Wednesday, said he was aware that “many” MPs from Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition now back the head of the opposition.
Dr Mahathir said: “If we accept that Zahid’s statement is true and based on his position as head of Umno and BN, this means that Muhyiddin can no longer emphasize that he has a solid majority to be prime minister. The important thing now is to study if the prime minister still has the majority to remain in his position. Whether Anwar has a majority or not is a separate issue that he (Anwar) will have to prove. “
The political rumor on Thursday was that some 15 Umno lawmakers who supported Prime Minister Muhyiddin are now with Anwar.
As Anwar did not reveal their names, the politicians joined other Malaysians on Thursday to guess who these party fans might be.
Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin remained in hospital for a third day on Thursday with an unspecified ailment, foiling Anwar’s plan to see him and present his list of supporting MPs.
Muhyiddin issued a statement on Wednesday to say that until Anwar proves otherwise through constitutional processes, he will remain prime minister.
Seemingly unfazed by his leadership’s claim, Prime Minister Muhyiddin flew back to Sabah on Wednesday to resume campaigning for Saturday’s state elections.
However, Mr. Anwar’s claim has had an impact on his own three-party coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Some of the PH members have fought against Umno for decades.
Although Zahid has opened the door for Umno MPs to support Anwar, the PH Democratic Action Party has indicated that it may not be willing to participate in such an arrangement.
Lim Guan Eng, general secretary of the DAP, said he was under the impression that lawmakers from the Gabungan Sarawak Party (GPS) would join the proposed new government, not Umno.
He said Anwar only informed him about the acquisition plan moments before the explosive announcement.
“It gave the impression that he had a GPS that supported him to have a comfortable majority. With the GPS it should be at least 120 MPs,” Lim said according to the Malaysiakini news site.
[ad_2]
