KUALA LUMPUR: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin never had a sufficient number of statutory declarations (SDs) from members of Parliament (MPs) who pledged their support him to become prime minister right after the 15th General Election (GE15) in November 2022.
Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this was because of the 115 SDs Muhyiddin claimed to have collected, 10 of the MPs had actually signed two SDs, with one supporting PN and the other supporting BN.
The UMNO president said UMNO secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki was a living witness to the matter.
“The 115 SDs he (Muhyiddin) claimed to have collected include 10 from MPs who signed two SDs – one for BN and one for PN. So, the actual number of SDs he had was only 105, and that was not enough number (of majority support in Parliament) to form a new government.”
Ahmad Zahid said this at a press conference after visiting the Media Centre provided for approximately 500 members of the press covering the 2024 UMNO General Assembly.
During the campaign for the Nenggiri state by-election in Kelantan last week, Muhyiddin was reported to have claimed that he had received 115 SDs from the newly-elected MPs after the GE15 and said that it was a sufficient number for him to be appointed as prime minister.
In his speech, Muhyiddin was also alleged to have disputed the duties and role of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on not being given the prime minister’s post after the general election.
Elaborating, Ahmad Zahid said each BN MP at that time also signed three documents in front of an Oath Commissioner, with a video recording to prove it.
He said the first document was to give full authority to the BN chairman to form a government, create a mixed government or take any action towards the formation of a government.
“The second document was to declare that the seat they won belonged to the party and not to any individual, and the third document was to declare that if they leave or support another party, they must pay a penalty of RM100 million,” he said.
In another development, Ahmad Zahid said Johor UMNO has submitted to the party leadership the list of potential candidates to be fielded in the Mahkota state by-election slated next month.
He said the party leadership would definitely give fair consideration to each candidate before naming the selected one.
“We are still using the WALi approach, namely Winnability, Acceptibility and Likeability. Those will be the main critera for the selection of our candidate for the Mahkota polls.
“Either old or new face, young, man or woman, all these factors will be given fair consideration,” he said.
The Election Commission (EC) has set the polling for the Mahkota by-election in Johor on Sept 28, while the nomination on Sept 14 and early voting on Sept 24.
The by-election is being called following the death of incumbent Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain on Aug 2.
