Johor DAP state assemblyperson Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali said the party leadership was aware of his meeting with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as depicted in a photograph that had gone viral.
The representative for Paloh said this in a short statement last night to clear the air over speculations surrounding the meet.
“The meeting was held at the invitation of the prime minister. As a DAP member, my meeting with the premier was in the knowledge of the party leadership,” he said.
According to Sheikh Umar, the meeting took place at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya on June 15.
However, he did not mention how long he met Muhyiddin and the reason for the meeting.
The photograph of Sheikh Umar and Muhyiddin, which appeared to have been taken at the latter’s office, had sparked speculations that the DAP politician might be the next elected representative to cross over to the Perikatan Nasional (PN) ruling coalition.
Two days ago, Twitter user TanggaPMO uploaded the photograph on Twitter with the question: “Is Bersatu getting one more seat in Johor?”
Following this, Sheikh Umar retorted: “Who knows. Maybe DAP will get more seats.”
Johor Bersatu head Mazlan Bujang yesterday said that it was unlikely that Sheikh Umar would jump to Bersatu.
PN took over the Johor government in February after garnering 29 seats in the state assembly, while Pakatan Harapan has 27.
Of PN’s 29 seats in the 56-member state legislative assembly, Umno has 14, Bersatu (11), MIC (two), PAS (one) and one independent in support of the coalition. Meanwhile, DAP controls 14, Amanah holds nine and PKR has four seats in Harapan.
This makes the state government rather unstable as a single defection from the ruling coalition would cause a hung assembly. – Malaysiakini