KUALA LUMPUR: Former Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz today announced his withdrawal of support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's government.
In a press conference this afternoon, the Padang Rengas MP said with his withdrawal of support, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is now left with 109 MPs on its bloc out of 220 MPs.
According to him, this would mean that the PN government did not have a majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.
Although the Dewan Rakyat comprises 222 seats, it is now down to 220 following the deaths of Batu Sapi MP Datuk Liew Vui Keong and Gerik MP Datuk Hasbullah Osman last year.
"I, Nazri Aziz of Umno and Barisan Nasional, Padang Rengas MP and Umno Padang Rengas division leader, officially retract my support for Muhyiddin's current government.
"I've given it a lot of thought before coming to this decision and this is the best decision I can make for my party.
"With my withdrawal of support, this means that today's government is only left with 109 seats after Jazlan and Tengku Razaleigh's withdrawal of support," he told reporters at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), here, today.
Nazri was referring to an announcement on Jan 9 by BN's Machang MP Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakob, who withdrew his support for PN.
Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah meanwhile had abstained from voting during the tabling of the 2021 Budget in Dewan Rakyat late last year.
Although Nazri claimed the government now only has 109 seats, Tengku Razaleigh never made an official announcement saying he no longer supported Muhyiddin and PN.
Nazri also claimed the Umno Supreme Council had accepted a motion to sever ties with the Muhyiddin-led Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), adding that he had received a mandate from the party to make today's announcement.
He added the reason he decided to make his announcement today was because the Umno General Assembly, scheduled for the end of this month, would not happen as the country was now under a State of Emergency.
"So this motion to sever ties is the party's stance, just that we don't get to formalise it during the assembly this Jan 31. In fact, I expect two or three more (Umno) MPs will follow suit."
Nazri had also labelled the declaration of a state of emergency as a "political emergency", stating that the Covid-19 pandemic could be dealt with the various movement control orders.
More to come