PH calls for Muhyiddin’s resignation, but says no to election right now

KUALA LUMPUR (July 9): Pakatan Harapan (PH) has called for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to “respectfully resign” for losing support and legitimacy as Prime Minister, after UMNO rescinded its support for the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition.

However, the opposition coalition also said now is not the time to conduct any form of election — including a general election, state election or by-election — considering the rising Covid-19 cases and the ensuing pressure on the national healthcare system.

In a statement yesterday, PH’s presidential council referred to an earlier statement by Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun stating there are no clear facts to show Muhyiddin has lost the majority support of members of Parliament (MPs) despite Umno’s exit from the government.

“We remind the attorney-general that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin himself was appointed as Prime Minister based on letters from leaders of political parties that supported him, including the UMNO president, which were presented to  Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Feb 29, 2020,” the council said.

“As the largest party has announced it is pulling out its support as what is happening currently, the Prime Minister has lost the support of that party and has consequently lost the majority support of MPs.

“Clearly the attorney-general acted more like a Perikatan Nasional (PN) politician, instead of protecting the supremacy of the law,” it added in the statement signed by the presidents of the three PH coalition parties — PKR, Amanah and DAP.

The presidential council also said PH will continue to focus on efforts to manage the Covid-19 crisis, speed up the vaccination programme, and reinvigorate the nation’s economy through policies announced by the coalition’s working committee.

“We need to put more emphasis towards efforts to save lives and livelihoods, following the Covid-19 crisis which is worsening, instead of politicking for position and rewards,” the council said.

After a lengthy UMNO Supreme Council meeting last night, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declared that the party is calling off its support towards Muhyiddin with immediate effect, citing seven failures by the ruling government, including failure to address the pandemic and for abusing the Emergency Ordinance for political purposes.

UMNO’s supposed exit came hours after Muhyiddin promoted Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a vice president of UMNO, to Deputy Prime Minister.

Concurrently Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, a party strongman,  was promoted to Senior Minister.

UMNO currently has 38 MPs, of which 12 are ministers and seven are deputy ministers. At the time of writing, there has been no resignations by any of them, after Zahid’s declaration. A conclusive exit of UMNO MPs will result in PN losing its simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

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