KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is convinced that Pakatan Harapan (PH) still has the numbers in Parliament to remain as the ruling government.
This is despite Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and 11 PKR MPs leaving the coalition today, making it short of the minimum 112 seats required to obtain a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
Lim said this would be tested in Parliament when it reconvenes next month.
“I will reject any contention that we (PH) don’t have the majority. Let us see and wait for further development.
“A lot of political parties are holding meetings and press conferences. Let’s wait for these pressers to unfold first. I think we can discuss more over the next few days,” he told a press conference after chairing DAP’s emergency meeting, here today.
The special meeting was called after one of the biggest political upheavals in the country’s history, which saw Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir tendering his resignation to the Istana Negara and his party PPBM, which has 26 parliamentary seats, leaving PH.
Further compounding PH’s crisis, PKR sacked its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin today, which also led to nine other PKR lawmakers reportedly packing their own bags.
Following this latest development, PH now only has 101 seats between them, with DAP having the most number with 42 seats, followed by PKR (39), Parti Amanah Negara (11) and Parti Warisan Sabah (9).
When asked to comment on this, Lim merely said that PH would be able to deliver the numbers, but did not elaborate on what he meant.
Lim also rubbished any notion that PH would be dissolved following this crisis and said the matter would be further deliberated at the coalition’s presidential council emergency meeting slated to take place tonight.
The meeting has since been postponed to tomorrow.
Asked how he felt now that DAP is the largest political party in the country, Lim said that was secondary to what Malaysians feel towards the current political developments.
“They feel lost and confused, all this manipulations, it feels like the Game of Thrones with these political dramas.
“Why all this drama when we can instead improve our economy, especially in light of the Covid-19 outbreak. This is utterly irresponsible,” he added.
