KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad tonight announced that he has the support of 114 MPs — which exceeds the simple majority of 112 MPs — to be prime minister, and said he will notify the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of this.
Dr Mahathir, who is also PPBM chairman, said he and five other MPs from PPBM do not support party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s appointment to be the next prime minister of Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir said this meant that the number of MPs that Muhyiddin has presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as supporting Muhyiddin was “not accurate”.
Dr Mahathir said that he and the five other PPBM MPs had all signed statutory declarations to affirm that they do not support Muhyiddin, listing the others as being Jerlun MP Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Kubang Pasu MP Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik, and Kuala Pilah MP Eddin Syazlee Shith.
Dr Mahathir said that all these six MPs — including himself — and 108 other MPs instead supported him to be the prime minister.
“All Members of Parliament that support me as the 8th Prime Minister in the form of Statutory Declarations and also official letters from the Party Heads, I will present to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“For now, I have received a total of 114 Members of Parliament supporting Tun Dr Mahathir as the 8th Prime Minister,” he said in a statement tonight, including himself in this tally.
“I have prepared a letter to be sent to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that explains the status of this matter and the support that 114 Members of Parliament have given to me.
“I hope His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong will accept my letter and explanation,” he added.
Dr Mahathir also attached a list of all 114 MPs mentioned.
His statement comes just hours after the Istana Negara announced that it has determined that Muhyiddin is likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs, based on the nominations received from independent MPs and leader of political parties with MPs.
The Istana Negara also said that Muhyiddin will be sworn in as the eighth prime minister of Malaysia at 10.30am tomorrow at the palace, while also expressing hope that his appointment would end the political crisis that has been gripping the nation for about a week.
With the Dewan Rakyat having 222 MPs, all that is required for someone to show that they have majority support is to have at least 112 MPs backing them.
It is unclear how many MPs have actually backed Muhyiddin to be prime minister or if any of them had changed their minds, as some names previously thought to have supported him have appeared in Dr Mahathir’s list tonight.
