KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — PKR’s Fahmi Fadzil today questioned Johor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed’s interpretation in regards to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition.

This comes after Nur Jazlan said earlier today that MoU between the government and opposition had ended.

The PKR communications chief asked in a Facebook post which MoU the Umno leader read when it was clearly stated that the MoU will not end on July 31, 2022.

"How is Nur Jazlan supposed to be a leader when he can’t even understand something so basic? Did he read the whole thing or did he purposely omit certain aspects of it for a specific reason? "Let me say unequivocally, my dear Nur Jazlan, the MoU is still in effect and the role of the Opposition is stated clearly in Article 9.1. So which document did you read when it’s in the public domain? Embarrassing,” said the Lembah Pantai MP.

Article 9.1 of MoU states that the Opposition is not barred from fulfilling its check-and-balance role.

Earlier today in a lengthy Facebook post, Nur Jazlan declared the MoU had ended today and that PH leaders were manipulating it with Ismail Sabri for their own political benefit.

The former Pulai MP accused PH of only wanting to extend the MoU to prolong the coalition’s own political life.

He described PH leaders as cunning in their ability to manipulate issues to their advantage and created negative perceptions of the government, Umno and BN.

On September 13 last year, the federal government and PH signed the MoU to ink their bipartisan cooperation for the sake of political stability which comprises a Covid-19 plan, administrative transformation, parliamentary reform, judiciary independence, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the establishment of a steering committee.

Ismail Sabri, a vice-president in Umno, was the third person to become prime minister in short succession following Election 2018.

PH’s pick for prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was forced out of office after some PKR and Bersatu MPs switched sides, leading to PH’s ouster and the installation of Muhyiddin in 2020.

As part of the deal, Ismail Sabri offered a list of parliamentary and government administration reforms in exchange for support.

He said the government would table an anti-party hopping Bill, which if passed, would prevent politicians elected on one party’s platform from defecting to another party.

Other proposals included ensuring equal membership in parliamentary special committees for both government and opposition lawmakers and granting the Opposition leader the same remuneration and amenities as a minister.

Umno lawmakers have been calling for an early GE15 following what they claim is the "expiry” of the MoU, which is supposed to happen today.

But clarifications from both sides of the political divide have insisted that the MoU will only expire when Parliament is dissolved, with July 31 being the agreed upon date by its signatories before which a general election would not be called.