KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin never had a sufficient number of statutory declarations (SDs) from members of Parliament (MPs) pledging support for him to become the prime minister after the 15th general election (GE15) in November 2022, according to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman 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 party secretary general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki is living witness of the matter.
“The 115 SDs Muhyiddin claimed to have collected included 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 [for majority support in Parliament] to form a new government.”
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 reportedly claimed that he had received 115 SDs from the newly elected MPs after the GE15, and that it was a sufficient number for him to be appointed as the prime minister.
In his speech, Muhyiddin allegedly disputed the duties and role of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong for not giving him the prime minister’s post after the general election.
Elaborating, 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, Zahid said Johor Umno had submitted to the party leadership the list of potential candidates to be fielded in the Mahkota state by-election 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 criteria for the selection of our candidate for the Mahkota polls.
“Either an old or new face, young, a man or woman...all these factors will be given fair consideration,” he said.
For the Mahkota by-election in Johor, the Election Commission has set Sept 28 for polling, with 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.
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