PN govt left with 110 MPs after Machang MP withdraws support
Umno's Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub has withdrawn support from the Perikatan Nasional government.
"I hereby withdraw my support for the Perikatan Nasional government, which is led by Muhyiddin Yassin," he said at a press conference in Kota Bharu, Kelantan today.
Ahmad Jazlan's declaration effectively leaves the Perikatan Nasional government with the support of 110 MPs, out of 220 lawmakers currently in the Dewan Rakyat...
Umno's Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub has announced his decision to withdraw support from the Perikatan Nasional government.
"I hereby announce my decision to withdraw my support for the Perikatan Nasional government which is led by Muhyiddin Yassin," he said at a press conference in Kota Bharu, Kelantan today.
Ahmad Jazlan's declaration effectively leaves the Perikatan Nasional government with the support of 110 MPs out of the 220 lawmakers currently in the Dewan Rakyat.
Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has voiced opposition to Muhyiddin too but has thus far abstained from voting against the government in Parliament.
However, while there are 110 MPs opposed to PN, the opposition is currently divided.
The main opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan has only 91 MPs as 17 other non-Umno lawmakers are not aligned with them.
The Kelantan Umno chief said he had yet to inform Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi about his decision but will do so.
However, he also opined there was no need to communicate his decision to the Umno supreme council.
“To me, I don’t need to get agreement from the supreme council members.
“Back when BN MPs supported the formation of the new PN government, this was before PN even existed, we never sought the agreement of the supreme council when we made our decision. The decision was simply endorsed by the party afterwards [...]
“But I will inform the Umno president and BN chairperson (Zahid) about this,” he said.
Contacted by Malaysiakini, he said he did not know whether any other Umno lawmakers will also be withdrawing their support for PN.
“This is my decision and I was not influenced by anyone. I don’t know about other MPs,” he replied.
‘Do not bully Umno’
Ahmad Jazlan opined today that his decision would not cause PN to lose its razor-thin majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
“What we are doing is to merely give (the government) a wake-up call to prioritise the rakyat.
“Do not torture Umno, do not bully Umno,” he added.
During the press conference, he explained that he was dissatisfied that PN continued to allow 1MDB-linked civil forfeiture suits against Umno divisions to continue.
“It is as if the Bersatu-led government has a certain agenda to restrict Umno's activities because these financial circumstances have caused some party activities to be stopped,” he said.
Other reasons included what he perceived as the government’s failure to fully fulfil Umno’s two Budget 2021 demands - for the loan moratorium to be extended and to allow all Employees Provident Fund contributors to withdraw lump sums from their retirement savings.
Quitting MPOB a 'signal'
Ahmad Jazlan's decision comes five days after he quit as chairperson for the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
At today’s press conference, he admitted that his resignation from the board had been a “signal” of his change of heart towards PN.
“My recent resignation as MPOB chairperson was a signal. It indeed was a signal. I was just waiting for (the right) time,” he said.
The MP had previously pressured PN to dissolve Parliament at the end of January to pave the way for a snap general election.
Several Umno figures have also been calling for an imminent GE15, most notably party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.
It was previously alleged that Zahid had offered in a letter his personal support for Pakatan Harapan chief Anwar Ibrahim to topple PN but allegedly without first informing the party about such support.
Officially, Umno has denied the existence of such a letter. Umno’s stance is to not collaborate with Anwar or Harapan component party DAP.
Additional reporting by Annabelle Lee.
