KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 ― PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail expressed confidence that the Opposition could remove the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government at the March parliamentary meeting.

He told Utusan Malaysia that the plan to remove Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister remained active despite the Opposition’s failure to block Budget 2021 at any stage in the just-ended meeting of Parliament.

“I have already received notice that parliamentarians are due to convene in March next year and this is where the efforts to take over the leadership of the government, which was betrayed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, will be continued.

“So many parties that claimed that the Opposition has failed just because it did not succeed in fighting against the Budget is not accurate because until now, the motions of no confidence have not been discussed.

“It is right for me to say that the efforts to take over the government that befits the mandate of the people that was given to Anwar and PH are still ongoing and there is no issue of replacing Anwar,” he said to the Malay daily yesterday.

Saifuddin also stressed that it was premature to say that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan (PH) have failed to topple the PN administration.

“It is too soon to come to the conclusion that Anwar as the Opposition leader and PH chairman had failed to topple PN. In fact, the Budget [2021] vote is due to it involving a huge public interest,” he said.

Earlier this week, PN’s maiden budget was passed with a slim majority of 111 to 108, which led to some sections within the Opposition to call for a change in leadership.

Saifuddin’s remarks also appeared to contradict those of the other PH component leaders who have told the coalition to abandon the plan to remove Muhyiddin with the support of unidentified government lawmakers.

On Thursday, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu jointly called for PH to stop wasting time on “opportunistic” PN backbenchers who are exploiting them.

Both leaders said after failing to stop the federal Budget from being passed, it is now time for the Opposition to face the reality that it needs a reset.