Anwar leads race to be Opposition’s pick for PM, but die likely already cast in Ismail Sabri’s favour
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim speaks to the media after an audience with the King at Istana Negara, August 17, 2021. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) and other Opposition parties would fully back PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be the next prime minister if he could get rival lawmakers to support his bid, sources said.
The sources and insiders privy to the negotiations confirmed to Malay Mail that Anwar currently has 105 federal lawmakers on his side, not enough for a simple majority.
A simple majority would usually be 111 in the 220-seat Parliament but was now 110 due to two vacancies that could not be filled due to the pandemic. Securing 111 MPs would, however, put the matter beyond doubt.
Warisan Youth’s chief and Sepanggar MP Datuk Azis Jamman revealed yesterday that his party’s support for Anwar was conditional on the latter being able to secure the additional lawmakers needed.
A PKR insider told Malay Mail that the condition was not just imposed by Warisan but also other Opposition parties and independent MPs as well.
“That is the case now. Anwar needs support from former Perikatan Nasional (PN) government MPs as well.
“Be it from Umno or even GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak), six MPs must support Anwar,” said the source.
PH represents the largest single bloc in the Dewan Rakyat with 88 MPs. Warisan has eight MPs while Tun Dr Mahahir Mohamad's Parti Pejuang Tanah Air has four, Parti Sarawak Baru has two while Upko has one. Six independent lawmakers are also in the Opposition.
Among the independents, four are former PKR members who left to support Perikatan Nasional while the remaining two — the head of the still unregistered Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and former education minister Maszlee Malik — are seen as friendly towards PH.
Another source from PKR who knew of the negotiations with the East Malaysian parties further revealed that an offer was made to Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for him to be the deputy prime minister, with an added promise to cater more to the demands of Sabah and Sarawak.
The person explained that the demands of the parties from the Borneo states was for the restoration of the two states’ special rights in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which had also been promised by both PH and Perikatan Nasional previously.
“Yes, there are negotiations ongoing regarding the matter of supporting Anwar, however no confirmation could be made public as of now,” said the source.
The same source also said the most priority for the East Malaysian parties is the path towards the restoration of the special rights of Sabah and Sarawak, as stipulated under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 — which both PN and PH government previously had promised.
Another PH insider said the Opposition was bullish that Anwar would be able to secure the outside support needed due to the solid base of 105 lawmakers already in his corner.
“No one has more support than Anwar at Dewan Rakyat now. That is a fact. To ensure the new government could resolve the situation and continue to bring Malaysia out of the pandemic and economic crisis, MPs should lend their support to him,” said the source.
However, this assertion could be in doubt after it was revealed that Umno and Barisan Nasional lawmakers have unanimously agreed to back Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as their nominee last night.
A group of 10 Umno holdouts who had been Ismail Sabri’s last hurdle to the nomination have now been convinced to rejoin the fold.
Separately, Shafie said last night that the agreement was that the Opposition would back either him or Anwar, depending on which of the two could secure the additional parliamentarians needed to achieve a simple majority.
Shafie said he and Anwar both agreed that the one who did so would receive the undivided support of the Opposition while the other must concede.
Anwar and other political party leaders were called to the palace yesterday for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
When leaving Istana Negara, Anwar said the Agong had called for a “new political landscape” that would allow the country to recover from the pandemic.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun issued a notice yesterday instructing the MPs to submit statutory declarations to Istana Negara on their candidate for the next prime minister.
The MPs have until 4pm today to do so.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) and other Opposition parties would fully back PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be the next prime minister if he could get rival lawmakers to support his bid, sources said.
The sources and insiders privy to the negotiations confirmed to Malay Mail that Anwar currently has 105 federal lawmakers on his side, not enough for a simple majority.
A simple majority would usually be 111 in the 220-seat Parliament but was now 110 due to two vacancies that could not be filled due to the pandemic. Securing 111 MPs would, however, put the matter beyond doubt.
Warisan Youth’s chief and Sepanggar MP Datuk Azis Jamman revealed yesterday that his party’s support for Anwar was conditional on the latter being able to secure the additional lawmakers needed.
A PKR insider told Malay Mail that the condition was not just imposed by Warisan but also other Opposition parties and independent MPs as well.
“That is the case now. Anwar needs support from former Perikatan Nasional (PN) government MPs as well.
“Be it from Umno or even GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak), six MPs must support Anwar,” said the source.
PH represents the largest single bloc in the Dewan Rakyat with 88 MPs. Warisan has eight MPs while Tun Dr Mahahir Mohamad's Parti Pejuang Tanah Air has four, Parti Sarawak Baru has two while Upko has one. Six independent lawmakers are also in the Opposition.
Among the independents, four are former PKR members who left to support Perikatan Nasional while the remaining two — the head of the still unregistered Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and former education minister Maszlee Malik — are seen as friendly towards PH.
Another source from PKR who knew of the negotiations with the East Malaysian parties further revealed that an offer was made to Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for him to be the deputy prime minister, with an added promise to cater more to the demands of Sabah and Sarawak.
The person explained that the demands of the parties from the Borneo states was for the restoration of the two states’ special rights in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which had also been promised by both PH and Perikatan Nasional previously.
“Yes, there are negotiations ongoing regarding the matter of supporting Anwar, however no confirmation could be made public as of now,” said the source.
The same source also said the most priority for the East Malaysian parties is the path towards the restoration of the special rights of Sabah and Sarawak, as stipulated under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 — which both PN and PH government previously had promised.
Another PH insider said the Opposition was bullish that Anwar would be able to secure the outside support needed due to the solid base of 105 lawmakers already in his corner.
“No one has more support than Anwar at Dewan Rakyat now. That is a fact. To ensure the new government could resolve the situation and continue to bring Malaysia out of the pandemic and economic crisis, MPs should lend their support to him,” said the source.
However, this assertion could be in doubt after it was revealed that Umno and Barisan Nasional lawmakers have unanimously agreed to back Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as their nominee last night.
A group of 10 Umno holdouts who had been Ismail Sabri’s last hurdle to the nomination have now been convinced to rejoin the fold.
Separately, Shafie said last night that the agreement was that the Opposition would back either him or Anwar, depending on which of the two could secure the additional parliamentarians needed to achieve a simple majority.
Shafie said he and Anwar both agreed that the one who did so would receive the undivided support of the Opposition while the other must concede.
Anwar and other political party leaders were called to the palace yesterday for an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
When leaving Istana Negara, Anwar said the Agong had called for a “new political landscape” that would allow the country to recover from the pandemic.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun issued a notice yesterday instructing the MPs to submit statutory declarations to Istana Negara on their candidate for the next prime minister.
The MPs have until 4pm today to do so.
Turtle Egg is the Best.... wakakaka
ReplyDeleteSee lah Guanee, TP and OKM may have been right. Big Tent, Listen, Negotiate. If we had done that we could have major concessions till July 2022. Now maybe PH end up with Nothing till GE15, probably 2023.
ReplyDeleteTP and OKM to be proven Right? Court Cluster now Deciding who will be PM? Should have listened to Guanee's Big Tent Theory? PH and Anwar End Up with Kosong?
ReplyDeleteGullible Guppies all kena TIPU-ed by The Grand Sandiwara?
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High Court agrees to shorten Najib’s 1MDB trial today for his meeting with Zahid, Ismail Sabri to decide new PM
Wednesday, 18 Aug 2021
BY IDA LIM
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s criminal trial for the misuse of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) RM2 million-odd funds was cut short this morning to allow the Pekan MP to attend a meeting with other political leaders to decide on a new prime minister candidate.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah sought permission from High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah to have the morning session end earlier as his client needed to attend a meeting at 11am.
“They are meeting to decide who would be new prime minister, a very critical meeting, because it is coming to a close, finale.
“So my client, he is adviser to BN, his attendance together with Datuk Seri Zahid and Ismail Sabri is compulsory together with the rest of party leaders that have to attend and make a decision today, and decide on certain name to be submitted for purposes of selection,” Shafee told the court at about 9.50am.
Shafee was referring to Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Ismail Sabri has been touted to be Umno and BN’s choice for nomination as the next prime minister.
Shafee asked for the trial to be stopped at 10.30am or 10.45am to enable Najib to be present at 11am at the World Trade Centre.
The judge said he was willing to allow a window of time, but said the trial must continue after Najib’s meeting and asked how long the meeting would take. To this, Shafee indicated it was not possible to say exactly when the meeting would end.
The judge said the trial cannot be adjourned the whole day; however he allowed the application and said the trial will pause at 10.45am but will resume at 2.30pm.
“I can accommodate the meeting but we need to continue,” Sequerah stressed.
At about 10.40am, just as the trial was to stop temporarily, the judge made it clear that he was only allowing the adjournment due to the country’s current situation.
“Can I just state for the record, for avoidance of doubt, that I’m allowing this request by the accused for this particular meeting only because of the peculiar circumstances that our country finds itself in at this point of time, and I suppose the importance of the meeting in achieving some resolution.
“So it’s only because of that, I don’t want to give the impression that other meetings, applications for other events would be allowed, it’s only this particular one because of the current situation,” Sequerah said.
UNQUOTE