‘No mention of retraction of support for PM’

KUALA LUMPUR: The letter by the 12 Perikatan Nasional Cabinet ministers to the King objecting to a general election being held this year never mentioned any retraction of support for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the Prime Minister, says one of them.

“We never said that. It was our objection to holding the snap polls this year due to the fear of floods and to enable the national economy to recover,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad told reporters yesterday.

Idris had accompanied Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at the national-level Maulidur Rasul celebration at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Idris, who is a PAS vice-president, and 11 other Perikatan ministers signed the letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Oct 5.

On Thursday, PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the Perikatan ministers wrote to the King to state their objection of the general election being held this year due to the forecast of a severe monsoon.

Perikatan secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, who is the Home Minister, also said that the coalition had not withdrawn support for the Prime Minister and the letter was only to protest Umno’s push for early polls.

In the Dewan Rakyat last week, Bersatu supreme council member Datuk Seri Azmin Ali was also against an early general election, saying this was to allow the country’s economic recovery to proceed unhindered.

The International Trade and Industry Minister said this would allow the positive effects of the nation’s economic recovery to be felt by the rakyat.

“I request that the move to dissolve Parliament is not carried out now.

“The economic indicators are getting better, but we need a little more time so that the economic recovery process can bring positive effects to the rakyat,” he said.