KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 8): After UMNO withdrew its support for the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH) has called on Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to “respectfully retire” as Prime Minister because he has lost support and legitimacy. However, the opposition alliance also stated that, given the rising number of Covid-19 cases and the resulting burden on the national healthcare system, now is not the time to hold any type of election, including a general election, state election, or by-election.
PH’s presidential council alluded to a previous comment by Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun, who stated that despite Umno’s withdrawal from the government, there are no clear facts to demonstrate Muhyiddin had lost the majority support of MPs.
“We remind the attorney-general that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was named Prime Minister based on letters from leaders of political parties supporting him, including the UMNO president, that were given to Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong on February 29, 2020,” the council said.
“Clearly, the attorney-general acted more like a Perikatan Nasional (PN) politician, instead of protecting the supremacy of the law,” it added in a statement signed by the presidents of the three political parties.
The presidential council also stated that through policies issued by the coalition’s working committee, PH will continue to focus on efforts to handle the Covid-19 crisis, speed up the vaccination campaign, and revive the nation’s economy.
“Rather of politicking for status and incentives, we need to place more emphasis on attempts to rescue lives and livelihoods as the Covid-19 problem worsens,” the council concluded.
Following a lengthy UMNO Supreme Council meeting last night, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the party is withdrawing its support for Muhyiddin with immediate effect, citing seven failures by the ruling government, including the failure to address the pandemic and the misuse of the Emergency Ordinance for political gain.
Muhyiddin promoted Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, an UMNO vice president, to Deputy Prime Minister just hours before UMNO’s alleged exodus.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, a party heavyweight, was also appointed to Senior Minister at the same time.
UMNO now has 38 members in parliament, with 12 ministers and seven deputy ministers. At the time of writing, none of them had resigned as a result of Zahid’s declaration. If UMNO MPs leave in large numbers, the PN will lose its simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat./n
