Malaysia former PM Muhyiddin denies claiming majority support to be PM again

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today denied that he claimed to have obtained majority support among Parliament lawmakers to take on the role as prime minister again.

This is after Parti Warisan Sabah president Tan Sri Shafie Apdal was quoted as saying that Muhyiddin sought his help to become prime minister again, and that he had the support of 119 MPs, enough to claim a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in a statement on Sunday (June 5) said, “I want to stress here that I have never told anyone that I have majority support from MPs. That allegation is untrue”, “What was discussed in the series of meetings with leaders is to find an understanding to take on GE15,”

Muhyiddin described the meetings as “unofficial”, adding that it came about after several leaders from political parties approached him after the Johor state election.

Muhyiddin said his discussions with other parties were about the possible formation of electoral pacts to defeat BN at the coming general elections, while also aimed at avoiding a multi-cornered fight that would benefit BN as observed from the Johor and Melaka state elections.

He said, “Many are of the opinion that the best way to take on GE15 is to work out a one-on-one formula to face BN. BN’s victory in the Melaka and Johor state elections was merely because votes were split between other parties. BN would not have garnered majority support, and in fact, support for the coalition did not increase.”

Muhyiddin said he took the initiative to reach out to political leaders except BN in order to exchange opinions regarding the one-on-one formula. “I’ve taken this initiative after the Bersatu political bureau and supreme council agreed to it. I did not act alone,” he added.

In the Johor polls last month, BN led the popular vote with 599,753 votes, followed by PN (334,457) and opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (284,969).

“I believe the majority of the people reject kleptocracy and an effort must be made to prevent BN from returning to full power in the country,” he said.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES