KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has formally requested for his seat in the Dewan Rakyat to be changed to the Independent bloc, effectively becoming the first Umno federal lawmaker to do so following the party’s decision to retract its support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

The formal request was stated in an official letter to Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun dated July 26 and sighted by Malay Mail.

In the letter, Tengku Razaleigh outlined his intention to not be associated with other members of Parliament seated with the ruling bloc where his current seat is located.

"With respect I would like to state that I wish not to be seated where I am now in the Dewan Rakyat together with other members of Parliament in the bloc as if I am considered a government backbencher.

"With this, I would like to request the consent and cooperation of Tuan Yang di-Pertua to move my seat to another seat in the Dewan Rakyat near the Independent bloc that does not support the government of the day.

"From the beginning, I have never supported or endorsed the government formed using the name ‘Perikatan Nasional’,” he said.

Tengku Razaleigh or ‘Ku Li’, however admitted that he had no knowledge of whether other members of Parliament from his party had made a similar request.

He stressed that his intention was in line with the spirit of Umno to not support the government of the day.

"Regardless of what they have decided to do, I am gladly asking to be moved to another seat that is appropriate, in accordance with the spirit of Barisan Nasional (BN), Umno and especially my voters, Umno members and Malaysians so that not in the least I can be considered a supporter of this failed government,” he added.

The letter was also copied to several individuals, namely Umno’s president, Umno’s secretary-general and BN secretary-general.

In a July 7 post-midnight press address, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno’s supreme council has decided to withdraw support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on account of the Bersatu leader’s purported failures in handling the Covid-19 health, economic and political crisis.

The five-day special sitting that began yesterday was convened after months of Opposition pressure that led the Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to issue a decree calling for the Parliament to meet immediately.

According to Parliament’s official website, all Umno MPs have been seated in the pro-government bloc for this special sitting.