Pakatan claims it has the numbers

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan has declared it has 114 MPs backing Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the Prime Minister.

Dr Mahathir said PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan had claimed that 114 MPs were behind Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

But he said six of Bersatu MPs, including himself, did not support the Pagoh MP as the candidate for the Prime Minister.

“So the numbers presented to the King was incorrect, ” he said in a statement.

The others are Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun), Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muar), Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah (Kubang Pasu), Dr Maszlee Malik (Simpang Renggam) and Eddin Syazlee Shith (Kuala Pilah).

Dr Mahathir, who is the Langkawi MP, said he would present the names of all the MPs supporting him to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

“I have prepared a letter to the King to explain the situation. I hope His Majesty will accept my explanation, ” he said.

Parti Amanah Negara deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said 111 MPs signed the statutory declarations (SDs) while another three had agreed verbally.

“So we have 114. We will declare our numbers in a peaceful manner, ” he said when met after Pakatan presidential council meeting at Yayasan AlBukhary last night.

Salahuddin said they had no intention to stop the swearing-in ceremony scheduled at 10.30am at Istana Negara today.

Earlier in a Facebook Live broadcast, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said Selangau MP Baru Bian was among the latest MPs to declare support for Dr Mahathir.

Mukhriz also took to the social media to quash claims that all 36 of Bersatu MPs supported Muhyiddin.

Earlier, in a twist of the political saga that had gripped the country for the past week, Dr Mahathir announced himself to be in the running for the Prime Minister post under Pakatan.

“I believe I have the majority of support in Parliament and I will not work with Umno kleptocrats, ” he said.

“As I have repeatedly stated, I am against any form of cooperation with individuals who are known to be corrupt and were part of the kleptocratic administration which the Pakatan government had worked hard to get rid of.”

PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who went to Istana Negara to hand in a SD naming Dr Mahathir as Pakatan’s candidate, said he was “taking a step back”.

Speaking to reporters, Anwar said he was grateful to the party leadership for agreeing with his motion to stop the fight for power.

“We have named Tun (Dr Mahathir) as our candidate for Prime Minister so that we can avoid the country being further dragged into this power struggle and into an old system which has been rejected by the people, ” he said.

He said he had opted to look at the country’s needs instead of thinking of his personal agenda.