Muhyiddin no longer commands majority.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his party has presented evidence to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to show which of its MPs have withdrawn support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Zahid went on to say Muhyiddin’s position as prime minister has lost its legitimacy and he should resign.
“Umno has enough MPs who have withdrawn support from the prime minister, hence he has no more legitimacy and has lost his majority,” Zahid told an online press conference today.
Muhyiddin is said to have the support of 115 out of 220 MPs in Parliament, but this has yet to be tested with a vote of confidence.
Umno has 38 MPs, but Zahid today did not state how many had signed statutory declarations withdrawing their support for Muhyiddin.
“I have with me the list of MPs who agreed to pull their backing for Muhyiddin, and the list has been sent to the king for his perusal,” said Zahid, the MP for Bagan Datuk.
“This shows Muhyiddin does not have the majority.”
There were 10 Umno MPs standing with him at the press conference today: Najib Razak (Pekan), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang), Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Azalina Othman Said (Penggerang), Nor Omar (Tanjung Kajang), Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit), Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling), Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut), Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang) and Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands).
Umno deputy president Mohamad Hassan, who is not a federal lawmaker, was also present.
“There are a few more who could not be with us today, especially those in Sabah,” he said.
Zahid alluded that he had already sought an audience from the Agong and the additional letters will be furnished then.
Zahid said his announcement was the decision of the Umno Supreme Council, which had just concluded a virtual meeting.
The party’s decision also follows the resignation of Lenggong MP Shamsul Anuar Nasarah from Muhyiddin’s cabinet as energy and natural resources minister.
Zahid said the supreme council had decided to back the king over the crisis between the government and the royal palace regarding, the recent dispute over emergency ordinances that were not tabled in Parliament.
He also said that Muhyididin’s statement that the emergency ordinances would be brought to the Dewan Rakyat in September to be debated – in line with the King’s wishes – failed to clear the air.
“The government has clearly contradicted and mocked the King who has on numerous occasions called for the emergency ordinances to be debated before Aug 1 and not in September.”
At the time of writing, it is impossible to determine the exact number of MPs who still back Muhyiddin.