KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and 10 other former PKR MPs have officially joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), according to Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin’s aide.

The 11, who went independent, are now backing the Bersatu president to be Malaysia’s eighth prime minister.

"Yes,” Muhyiddin’s press secretary Hafiz Abdul Halim told Malay Mail when contacted for verification about the entry of Azmin and his faction.

"All 11 are in, the one who did not turn up was Ranau,” he said, adding that Ranau MP Jonathan Yasin was absent from a meeting held earlier today and wasn’t included in the latest statement.

"But he joined Bersatu too,” Hafiz added.

However, another Bersatu leader Datuk Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff told Malay Mail that the party’s supreme council has not been informed about the Azmin faction’s admission.

"No clue, at the MPT not informed,” he said, using the Malay initials for the supreme council.

Malaysia is currently facing a political crisis, which was triggered when then-PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and vice president Zuraida Kamaruddin were sacked from the party.

They then lead a group of 9 other MPs out of PKR and Pakatan Harapan (PH) together. Bersatu also announced its pull-out from the PH coalition.

After the Azmin faction and Bersatu left PH, the coalition no longer had the majority support or at least 112 MPs out of the 222-member Dewan Rakyat to remain as the government of the day.

In the political crisis that ensued, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also quit as prime minister before being installed as the interim prime minister; he had also quit as Bersatu chairman before taking up the party position again yesterday.

No political party or coalition has sufficient numbers now to form a simple majority for federal power.