Perikatan: Another SD from MP given to Istana Negara, on top of yesterday’s ‘more than 112’

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — With less than four hours left to the submission deadline for statutory declarations (SDs) for any coalition to form the federal government and nominate a prime minister, Perikatan Nasional (PN) announced today it has duly submitted one more SD to Istana Negara.

This would be in addition to the SDs of more than 112 MPs that PN said it had submitted yesterday to the Agong.

PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the latest addition meant that one more MP has pledged their support for PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister candidate.

“PN has received one more SD from an MP who has voiced their confidence towards the appointment of Muhyiddin as the 10th prime minister of Malaysia.

“The SD was submitted to Istana Negara this morning,” he said in a short statement.

However, Hamzah did not disclose the purported signatory or the overall number of SDs PN have submitted to Istana Negara.

Yesterday, he announced that PN had submitted the SDs of more than 112 MPs to the Agong for his consideration.

“The total number of SDs submitted is more than 112, that is the number needed for a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat for the appointment of a prime minister under Article 43 of the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement.

With Malaysia’s Parliament hung for the first time in history, the King ordered coalition and party leaders to notify Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun of their numbers to form a new government by 2pm today.

This was an extension of the original deadline set for 2pm yesterday.

No coalition won enough seats — 112 from 222 — to form the next government after Saturday’s general election, the first time in the country’s history.

The 15th general election ended with both the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions claiming to have enough numbers in the 222-seat Parliament to form government.

PH currently has 82 seats while PN have 73. The Barisan Nasional coalition, which had pushed for national polls to be held this year ahead of the GE14 expiry next year, only garnered 30 seats.