Pakatan: AG's opinion Mahia can continue on as PM was made as a PN politician

Harapan disputes AG's backing for PM but silent on supporting any horse

Pakatan Harapan has disputed Attorney-General Idrus Harun's opinion that Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin can continue on as prime minister even though Umno has withdrawn its support for him.

The Harapan presidential council maintained that Muhyiddin has lost his majority and should respectfully resign but it did not offer a solution to the political impasse.

Instead, the opposition coalition said it wanted to focus on battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Weighing in on Idrus' legal opinion that the statement of a party leader cannot determine the confidence of a majority of MPs in a prime minister, the Harapan presidential council pointed out that this was how Muhyiddin came to power.

"We would like to remind the attorney-general that Muhyiddin Yassin himself was appointed as prime minister based on a statement by political party leaders endorsing him, including the Umno president, which was presented to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on Feb 29, 2020.

"Therefore, when the leader of the largest party announces he is withdrawing support now, the prime minister loses the support of that party and the majority support of MPs.

"It is clear that the attorney-general is acting as a Perikatan Nasional politician instead of defending the sanctity of the law," said the presidential council a statement.

The statement was jointly signed by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim who is also the opposition leader, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday announced that his party was withdrawing support for Muhyiddin.

Muhyiddin was installed as prime minister in March last year after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Zahid also said Umno would not support a replacement government led by Harapan.

The Harapan presidential council said Muhyiddin should respectfully resign as he had lost his majority support and legitimacy but did not reveal whom it would back to replace Muhyiddin.

The opposition coalition said it will be focussing on the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Harapan will continue to focus on resolving the people's problems, the management of the Covid-19 crisis, expediting the vaccination programme and reviving the economy through policies that are scrutinised and announced by the Harapan committees," they said.

The Harapan presidential council also stressed that now was not to time to hold a general election or by-elections due to the high number of Covid-19 cases and the serious strain on the public healthcare system.