KUALA LUMPUR: The claim by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday of him having a “strong, formidable and convincing” majority to take over the government raises various questions as to what extent he would go to bring down the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government under Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The PN government will continue to reign until the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president can prove to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) that he really has the number to take over the government.
A geostrategist, Azmi Hassan, said whatever is Anwar’s game, the final say on any change in the government is not in his hands but that of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
He said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could decide the change in government without having the Parliament to be dissolved, or to call for a general election if Parliament is dissolved.
“It is true that the post of prime minister depends on the support obtained in Parliament. If the claim that he (Anwar) has majority support, it means that Muhyiddin has lost the support of the members of Parliament (MPs).
On talks that Anwar has the support of Umno MPs, Azmi said he was not sure about it and if it is so, it would upset the Umno grassroots as it would mean their party having to work with DAP, which they consider an enemy.
“We should be mindful that the reason Umno MPs support Muhyiddin is to avoid having DAP in the government.
“Since DAP has expressed support for Anwar, it is quite certain that DAP will be in Anwar’s government. This will certainly be difficult for the Umno grassroots to accept Umno MPs supporting Anwar,” he added.
Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a statement yesterday confirmed having received information that there are many Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs expressing support for Anwar and that he respected their stand.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Associate Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib said the public could not accept Anwar’s claim of having the support to form a new government.
“My opinion is that Anwar’s claim is just mere words, he needs to prove it, like showing the Statutory Declaration (SD) signed by the affected MPs or announcement by the MPs concerned,” she added.
She said the announcement by Anwar could influence the results of the Sabah State Election this Saturday as voters would have to choose a coalition that is favoured by the federal government for the future of Sabah.
“Relationship between federal and state has a big impact on development in Sabah,” she added.
Meanwhile, there has yet to be any MP from the opposite side expressing support for Anwar, with all those in PN, including cabinet members, expressing full support for the PN government led by Muhyiddin. — Bernama
