KUALA LUMPUR: After announcing his withdrawal of support for Perikatan Nasional today, Barisan Nasional's Padang Rengas member of parliament Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has claimed that the current government has fallen.
The former minister also claimed the government's decision to declare a state of emergency was due to its lack of confidence in its ability to maintain a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
He claimed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin admitted defeat when he went to see the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, seeking an emergency declaration.
"To me, this emergency declaration is an admission of defeat by Muhyiddin because he has lost the majority, which means he would need to call for an election.
"Since we can't hold a general election yet due to Covid-19, Muhyiddin asked for an emergency because he has lost (this battle) and no longer holds the majority," Nazri told reporters at the Putra World Trade Centre, here, aired live on social media platforms.
The Umno Padang Rengas division chief also said the government's decision to declare an emergency at a time when he (Nazri) had earlier made a plan to withdraw his support for PN was questionable.
"Besides, if it is about Covid-19, then why can't we do the Movement Control Order (MCO) like last year? Why do we need an emergency declaration when we already managed everything last year with just the MCO?
"So, clearly we can read this whole situation as a political emergency rather than a health emergency. I am not calling for an immediate snap poll. We just want to say that this government we have now has already collapsed, that's all."
Nazri said the emergency declaration was also proof the government had failed to break the chain of Covid-19 infections.
Earlier, Nazri announced his withdrawal of support for Muhyiddin and his government. Machang MP Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakob, also from BN, made a similar decision on Jan 9.
According to Nazri, PN only has 109 seats out of the 220 MPs (excluding two MPs who died) in the Dewan Rakyat following the recent withdrawal of PN support from Machang MP Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakob and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
However, it should be noted that Tengku Razaleigh only made an official announcement on abstaining from voting in last year's 2021 Budget, but not on his support for Muhyiddin's government.
Thus, without counting Tengku Razaleigh, PN should now have 110 seats, which means there is a hung Parliament, according to the Federal Constitution.