KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council held a meeting today to discuss its plans to strengthen the Opposition coalition in the much anticipated face-off against the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) when Parliament reconvenes again.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim shared several photographs on his social media accounts this afternoon of his meeting with Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun in the morning.
In the same post, he also posted photos of him and other PH leaders in their presidential council meeting at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
“Today, I together with the Pakatan Harapan leadership held a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun in Parliament.
“During the meeting, we raised the need to hold a Dewan Rakyat sitting in line with the Istana Negara media statement during the day.
“After the meeting, the PH Presidential Council held a meeting to discuss the outcome of the meeting.
“The Presidential Council also touched on some recent issues as well as preparations for the 15th General Election,” Anwar who is Port Dickson MP said on Facebook.
A source with inside knowledge of the PH presidential council meeting today disclosed that talks revolved around last week’s defection of two MPs from PKR who declared their support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Other issues discussed included Umno’s much-talked about statement to discontinue its political cooperation with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the next general election.
“So PH thinks it is better to focus on GE15 as we believe PH and its alliance will perform well if we are ready and united for the people,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source said PH is focused on the GE15 to return as government this time, rather than winning over support from MPs in rival parties.
On February 28, Julau MP Larry Sng and Tebrau MP Steven Choong quit PKR, declaring themselves independent in support of Muhyiddin and PN government.
The two MPs were seen in photographs presenting Muhyiddin with the statutory declarations at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.
PH parties also discussed the intra-coalition crossovers after five Amanah assemblymen from Johor and Selangor jumped to PKR on February 27.
Anwar has remained adamant that Muhyiddin’s PN does not hold the majority support in the Dewan Rakyat, despite the recent PKR MP crossovers.
He claimed last September to have a “convincing majority” to form government, but has so far refrained from disclosing the number or identities of those who have purportedly switched their allegiance to him.
The PH insider indicated that the Opposition will fight Muhyiddin’s majority claim head-on when Parliament reconvenes.
Several Umno MPs have also disclosed a plan to denounce Muhyiddin.
Umno’s Padang Rengas MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and Machang MP Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub had publicly announced they withdrawn their support for Muhyiddin while Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has urged the party to make a decision on withdrawing support as requested by 147 divisions.
Earlier today, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan issued a statement confirming its supreme council leader will be severing ties with Bersatu in GE15.
Malaysia is currently under a state of Emergency and Parliament has also been suspended, effectively preventing a vote of confidence or lack of in Muhyiddin, from being tabled.
