Anwar’s plot to oust Malaysia PM Muhyiddin: Mahathir doubts it, Najib mocks it
- Nonagenarian pours cold water on Anwar Ibrahim’s claim he has support from enough MPs to form a new government
- Mahathir says while Muhyiddin may fall, Anwar can’t rely on new-found friends in Umno. Najib, meanwhile, posts Facebook photos of Super Rings
The remarks by Mahathir, 95, further muddy the waters in what promises to be a fresh political crisis for the country, just months after Muhyiddin, a former ally of both Anwar and Mahathir, split from them to form a new government following internecine struggles among the Malay elite.
Anwar Ibrahim says he has enough support to oust Muhyiddin Yassin
Umno, which governed the country uninterrupted for 61 years until elections in 2018, currently has 39 MPs. These, together with four MPs from allied parties, prop up Muhyiddin’s two-seat legislative majority.
Anwar needs 21 more MPs to form a simple-majority government of 112 MPs, though he claimed on Wednesday he had the support of “close to” two-thirds of all MPs.
In a written statement, Mahathir said it was a “certainty” that the Umno MPs who pledged support for Anwar would be loyal to Najib and their party’s current leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
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The elder statesman sought to link the Umno MPs’ support for Anwar to what he believed was disgruntlement with Muhyiddin following Najib’s conviction.
“If the wishes of their two leaders [Najib and Zahid] are not fulfilled, then the MPs will do what they did to Muhyiddin, which is withdraw their support and collapse the government,” Mahathir said.
While Mahathir – who was toppled from his second stint as prime minister by Muhyiddin’s political coup in March – signalled a lack of confidence in Anwar’s plan, he did acknowledge that the development probably spelt the end of the sitting administration.
With Zahid on Wednesday conceding that “many” Umno MPs supported Anwar, that meant Muhyiddin no longer had a legislative majority, Mahathir surmised in his three-page statement.
“The important thing now is whether the prime minister has the majority to maintain his position. Whether or not Anwar has a majority is secondary,” Mahathir said.
The ex-prime minister was not the only one voicing doubts over his ex-protégé Anwar’s plan.
Much of the pro-Muhyiddin camp reacted with scorn.
Azmin Ali, an ally-turned-rival of Anwar, said he was unperturbed by Zahid’s claim that many MPs were backing the opposition leader.
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Mahathir Mohamad on Malaysia’s politics, US-China relations and the pandemic
Azmin, now the effective number two leader in cabinet, orchestrated the March coup following nearly two years of proxy battles with Anwar in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), or People’s Justice Party, they co-founded in the late 1990s.
Azmin said contrary to Zahid’s comments other Umno leaders had pledged support for Muhyiddin’s administration.
“I believe everyone can see this, except one or two characters who are power crazy,” he was quoted as saying by the Malaysiakini portal.
Asked about Anwar’s plan, he replied: “Don’t ask me. I don’t know from where he got [those MPs]. Perhaps he picked them up from the street. I don’t know. Thank you.”
Most of the country’s top political leaders from both warring camps are campaigning in Sabah ahead of Saturday’s state assembly election there.
For years, the politician has posted pictures of himself eating the local snack Super Ring, a bright orange cheese powder cracker, when rivals are mired in trouble.
Soon after Anwar’s hastily convened noon press conference on Wednesday, Najib posted a photo on Facebook of a basket of Super Ring packets on a supermarket checkout counter with the caption: “Need to ensure there’s enough supplies in times like this.”
There has been no further comment from Anwar despite widespread speculation on who his backers were. He said on Wednesday he would only reveal the full list of MPs who supported him after a meeting with the king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
The constitutional monarch was expected to grant him an audience on Tuesday but the meeting was postponed as he fell ill and was admitted to the National Heart Institute.
Muhyiddin meanwhile has insisted that the onus was on Anwar to prove his majority through constitutional means and that for now he remained the “legitimate prime minister”.
Campaigning in Sabah on Thursday, he suggested the March coup took place due to the extraordinary circumstances the country was under. He said: “It’s not that I’m an extraordinary PM, but I face extraordinary challenges like dealing with Covid-19 and its impact on our economy.”
