Muhyiddin Upset His “115 SD” Rejected – Here’s Why Anwar Still The Favourite To Grab The 10th Prime Minister

Muhyiddin Upset His “115 SD” Rejected – Here’s Why Anwar Still The Favourite To Grab The 10th Prime Minister


Muhyiddin Yassin knew his scam didn’t work when Anwar Ibrahim was also invited to the Palace to meet Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) today (Nov 22), the third day after the 15th General Election that has produced a hung Parliament. In Feb 2020, he managed to cheat his way to become the 8th Prime Minister with just 108 statutory declarations (SD), but not this time.



Yes, on the eve of Muhyiddin’s swearing-in on March 1, 2020, Mahathir Mohamad had 114 votes. To prove it, ex-PM Mahathir had even pre-emptively published the list of 114 MPs (more than 112 minimum seats required to form a simple-majority government in the 222-seat Parliament) who supported him as the next prime minister, along with a letter to the Palace.



Muhyiddin, however, failed or refused to publish the list of Members of Parliament allegedly supported him, but was sworn in by the monarch anyway. His legitimacy was questioned when he locked the Parliament under the pretext of fighting Covid-19. During his 17-month regime, the former backdoor prime minister had never dared hold a motion of confidence to legitimize his leadership.



Both Mahiaddin (Muhyiddin) and Anwar met separately with the King today. But while Anwar stayed back to meet journalists outside the Palace, Muhyiddin – terribly upset – simply sped off without meeting the press – clearest clue that it didn’t go well with him. It was only back at his residence that Muhyiddin revealed to the press what had transpired at the Palace.



Furious, Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin showed a pile of documents – 115 statutory declarations – which he thought would do the trick to convince the King to appoint him as the 10th Prime Minister. Disappointed, he said – “During the audience with the King, someone said that this is not enough. I don’t know what the reasons were, but the proof is here.”



And because Muhyiddin did not have enough numbers, the Malay Ruler suggested that his Perikatan Nasional and Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan cooperate to form a unity government. The former backdoor PM arrogantly rejected the royal proposal. What he didn’t tell the reporters was that Anwar would become the prime minister in the unity government.



While it’s true that Perikatan Nasional has previously declared that it will not cooperate with rival Pakatan Harapan, it had similarly announced that it cannot work with opponent Barisan Nasional. In fact, on Sept 24, 2022, Muhyiddin has reminded his party Bersatu that its main enemy in the 15th General Election is Barisan Nasional, and not Pakatan Harapan.



But the hypocrite shamelessly included Barisan Nasional MPs in his list of statutory declarations when he needed them now to form the government. Would Muhyiddin condemn Pakatan Harapan and rejected the unity government proposal had the King proposed that he becomes the prime minister instead? Obviously not, because all he wants is to become premier again.



The Palace has thrown away his silly collection of SD because the number didn’t add up. Pakatan Harapan has 82 MPs and Barisan Nasional possessed 30 MPs – already 112 MPs in the 222-seat Parliament. As Barisan Nasional chairman, Zahid Hamidi has publicly announced yesterday (Nov 21) that any declarations signed by Barisan Nasional MPs were invalid.



Thanks to racist bigots Muhyiddin Yassin and Hadi Awang, Sarawak-based Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has made a U-turn today. GPS leader Abang Johari Openg was grilled by angry members over his hastily support for Muhyiddin, leading to mutiny after he recklessly entered a pact with Perikatan Nasional despite knowing extremist PAS Islamist party has spewed anti-Christianity.



Today, the self-designated Sarawak Premier was forced to withdraw his support for Muhyiddin when he said GPS is leaving it to the discretion of the King to appoint the prime minister, erasing 23 MPs for Muhyiddin. In addition, Sabah-based Warisan president Shafie Apdal has openly declared his support for Anwar, delivering 3 MPs to Pakatan Harapan.



Meaning the most Muhyiddin has was only 84 MPs (assuming he managed to bribe the rest of other MPs) when he met the King. That’s why his dubious claims of having the support of 115 MPs were rejected flatly by the Palace. And he has the cheek to whine, cry and bitch that the monarch refused to recognize all his hard work in collecting the statutory declarations.



Because the 15th General Election ended with no party obtaining a simple majority of at least 112 seats to form a new government, the hung parliament provides the King with some criteria to select the next prime minister. Anwar told the press that the monarch desires a strong, formidable, and inclusive (in terms of race, religion, and region) government.



While Muhyiddin was complaining about the rejection of his so-called 115 SD, Anwar revealed the type of government that the King wanted. It’s not just the factor of securing a simple-majority support among the MPs, but also a government that is appealing to the multi-ethnic, multi-religion and multi-cultural society in both Peninsular and East Malaysia.




Comparing popular votes alone, Pakatan Harapan had captured 5,810,690 votes (37.46%) while Perikatan Nasional won only 4,667,429 votes (30.35%) in the 15th General Election. Thanks to gerrymandering, Pakatan has only 9 seats more than Perikatan despite winning over 1-million votes more. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that Pakatan has the most popular votes.



After his audience with the Malay Monarch, Anwar appeared very jovial when he spoke to the media because Pakatan Harapan coalition fits the bill perfectly. Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional, on the other hand, was designed specifically for ethnic Malay only – creating a very unhealthy racist and extremist ecosystem as well as a society constantly lives under threat of racial riots.



In fact, both Bersatu president Mahiaddin Yassin and PAS president Hadi Awang approve, subscribe and even promote racist hatred, xenophobia, and all forms of bigotry in their attempt to fish Malay votes during the recent election campaign. Muhyiddin said Christians were working with Jews to Christianise Malaysia, while Hadi tried to radicalise people with violent Islamic extremism.



A petition calling for Christians MPs from Sarawak GPS to reject any collaboration with Perikatan Nasional to form the new government has garnered about 25,000 signatures today. Sarawak assemblyman Baru Bian, who called all GPS MPs to reject racist bigots PAS, said – “We do not want the Premier to partner with Perikatan in any way or form.”



Sarawak activist Peter John Jaban said – “Any coalition, which will put a PAS puppet prime minister in the top post is equally abhorrent to the non-Muslim majority in Sarawakians.” Slamming Muhyiddin as unfit to become a PM, Peter said – “His bigoted anti-Christian statements on the eve of the election show at worst his own religious intolerance or his own willingness to use extremist sentiment to win an election.”



Still, does Anwar Ibrahim have the numbers to become the 10th Prime Minister? Barisan Nasional, the kingmaker with 30 MPs, has decided today not to support any coalition to form the government. Without Barisan Nasional, neither Pakatan Harapan nor Perikatan Nasional will have the magic number. And since Muhyiddin has rejected a unity government, does that mean another general election is needed?



Interestingly, UMNO Supreme Council member Johari Ghani said race and religion should not be a factor when it comes to forming a government, obviously referring to Chinese-dominated DAP. He said that Barisan Nasional has always celebrated diversity during its 61 years in power, where the country was administered based on multicultural and multi-religious platform. He said his seat was won with the support of all races.



More importantly, Mr Johari highlighted that caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri had even survived the constant threat from Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional by signing a pact – MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) – with opposition Pakatan Harapan (comprising PKR, DAP, Amanah, UPKO parties) in order to ensure uninterruptible administration of the Barisan Nasional government for 14 months.



It appears that Johari, Titiwangsa MP, was giving “hints” that Barisan Nasional could similarly return the favour by signing an MOU with Pakatan Harapan to ensure support for Anwar Ibrahim. This formula would allow Barisan Nasional remains in the opposition to rejuvenate itself, but indirectly supports Pakatan Harapan without being part of the government.



After decades of bashing Democratic Action Party (DAP) as a Chinese chauvinist party, it would be a political suicide for UMNO-led Barisan Nasional to join the Pakatan Harapan government. Likewise, after decades of slamming UMNO’s corruptions, it would be hard for Pakatan Harapan, especially DAP, to explain to the ethnic Chinese how they could work together now.



The only solution is for both Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional coalitions to be seen separately in different political sides, but support each other through MOU in facing a common enemy – racist bigots and extremists Perikatan Nasional. Another hint that Anwar is still the favourite for the top job is when Barisan Nasional secretary-general Zambry Abd Kadir said no MPs here backing Muhyiddin.



Pakatan Harapan’s support for Barisan Nasional in forming both Perak and Pahang states is another clue that when the 30 MPs from Barisan meets the King tomorrow, the Palace could be convinced that Mr Anwar has the majority support to become the prime minister. But will it suddenly switch sides to Perikatan Nasional and supports Muhyiddin as prime minister?



If Barisan Nasional has intented to do so, it does not need to go to the trouble of meeting Anwar Ibrahim at Seri Pacific Hotel and risk being condemned as Anwar and DAP’s friend. All it needed to do was make demands and voila, the desperate Muhyiddin would have granted the moon and stars because without Barisan Nasional, he cannot become the prime minister again.



When ex-PM Muhyiddin declared Barisan Nasional as Bersatu’s ultimate enemy last month, he seriously wanted to kill off UMNO as revenge for toppling him after just 17 months on the job. Surprisingly, it was PKR, DAP and Amanah who came to its rescue. Tomorrow, UMNO MPs do not even need to express who they support. They just need to tell the King the man they won’t support – the power-crazy Mahiaddin Yassin.