KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 8 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is not having a meeting with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong today following Umno’s withdrawal of support, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said this evening.
Two local news outlets, Utusan Malaysia and Malaysia Gazette, had earlier claimed on Twitter that the prime minister is expected to meet the King later today.
“Not true,” the PMO responded when contacted for clarification.
Earlier today, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who leads the country’s largest party, Umno, declared its withdrawal of support for Muhyiddin who is from Bersatu.
According to Ahmad Zahid, Umno’s supreme council is withdrawing support on account of the Bersatu leader’s purported failures in handling the Covid-19 health, economic, and political crises.
The Bagan Datuk MP urged Muhyiddin to act honourably and relinquish his post and allow the appointment of an interim prime minister to handle the current pandemic and subsequently advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to accede for a general election be called.
The supreme council meeting and Ahmad Zahid’s statement came on the heels of Muhyiddin’s surprise promotion of two Umno lawmakers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, as deputy prime minister and senior minister respectively.
However, Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun has said that Zahid’s declaration has no legal impact on Muhyiddin and his government since it was made outside of Parliament.
Instead, Idrus said the decision on whether an individual commands the confidence of the majority of MPs must be determined by the MPs themselves in accordance with Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution.
He added that Muhyiddin and his Cabinet have the legal right to govern the country for now.
