KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin reportedly said it is crucial for Perikatan Nasional (PN) to secure the Pulai federal seat in the by-election in order to deny the federal government ruling coalition a two-thirds majority.
The PN chairman said the coalition needs this to prevent any amendments to the Federal Constitution at its whim, as there were concerns about a possible redelineation to increase the number of federal seats from 222 to 300.
“If PN wins in Pulai this September 9, this will deny them a two-third majority at the Dewan Rakyat and significantly affect them in matters of constitutional amendments.
“If they are planning to do something that is not beneficial to the voters, especially Malays, then it will definitely spell disaster to the future of the Malays,” he was quoted as saying by Harian Metro.
At present, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government coalition has the support of 148 federal lawmakers, which is just slightly at two-thirds of the total.
The Pulai and Simpang Jeram state seat by-elections are being called due to the unexpected vacancy of the seats following the death of the incumbent, Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who was also the Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, on July 23.
The Election Commission (EC) set the by-elections for the two seats to be held simultaneously, with early voting on September 5 and polling day on September 9.
