Why the cirit-birit man will not be PM.

Utusan Malaysia reported on Sunday (Nov 20) that all 29 Barisan Nasional MPs – except UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – had signed statutory declarations (SDs) backing Muhyiddin Yassin as the 10th Prime Minister. The news was then published by other media, especially MCA-owned “The Star” as part of a psychological warfare orchestrated by UMNO warlord Hishammuddin Hussein.

Hishammuddin has been promised the Senior Minister cum Defence Ministry portfolio if he could influence and bribe UMNO MPs to support Muhyiddin.

When Zahid led 26 out of 30 Barisan Nasional MPs to meet Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim at the Seri Pacific Hotel for a meeting, leading to the prospect of a unity government, Hishamuddin panicked. It was a “done deal” after both coalitions quickly agreed to form the state governments in Perak and Pahang, where Barisan Nasional lost spectacularly to rival Perikatan Nasional

To say Zahid was the only one left in UMNO who disagreed to support Muhyiddin was already a red flag because the party president still has loyalists like Bung Moktar and Ahmad Maslan. They should learn how to cook a story that makes sense. Kedah Chief Minister Sanusi subsequently offered a different story – Muhyiddin has the support of 18 MPs.

UMNO-led Barisan Nasional won only 9 out of 59 seats in Perak, and 16 out of 42 in Pahang. Without Pakatan Harapan’s 24 state seats in Perak and 8 in Pahang, Barisan Nasional would end up as the opposition. However, as part of a unity government deal, UMNO gets both chief ministers in exchange for supporting Anwar as the 10th Prime Minister.

There was no way Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional could match similar generosity and kindness for Barisan Nasional. After the Perak and Pahang deals, Hishammuddin chicken out and rubbished a statement circulating on social media quoting him as saying 10 UMNO MPs were backing Muhyiddin as prime minister. The number keeps changing, dropping from 29 to 18 to 10. His plan has failed.

Of course, Hishammuddin supports rival Perikatan to prevent his corruption in the defence ministry from being investigated. But it was not only Hishammuddin who had lied and exaggerated about the number of MPs who supports Mahiaddin alias Muhyiddin. Even Wannabe Prime Minister Muhyiddin lied about having at least 112 MPs to form a simple-majority government.

Exactly how could Muhyiddin have more than 112 MPs as claimed when Pakatan Harapan’s 82 and Barisan Nasional’s 30 parliamentary seats are still in negotiations? After today’s meeting at the Seri Pacific Hotel, Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin rushed to announce that they had submitted SDs to the Palace (Istana Negara).

As Barisan Nasional chairman, Zahid Hamidi has publicly announced that any such declarations signed by BN MPs were invalid. Heck, he had even sent caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri to personally inform King Sultan Abdullah to ignore those SDs.

The monarch has postponed the deadline from Monday to Tuesday (Nov 22) on the submission of the prime ministerial candidate. If Perikatan Nasional list of 112 MPs is valid, there is no need for the Palace to wait for Pakatan Harapan tomorrow. Obviously, Muhyiddin was trying his dirty trick again, the same way he scammed the Agong (King) back in March 2020.!

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

Muhyiddin, however, failed or refused to publish a list of Members of Parliaments allegedly supported him, but was sworn in by the monarch anyway. His legitimacy was being 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 prove his legitimacy.

But this round, he will not be able to cheat his way to the Iron Throne. With anti-hopping law implemented, there is no need for SD from each MP. The King had explicitly mentioned that he only requires the affirmation from party leaders, in this case a letter from Barisan Nasional chairman Zahid Hamidi stating he supports Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim as prime ministe

Any Barisan Nasional MP who disagreed with the party’s decision must resign, leading to the parliamentary seat becomes vacant and triggers a by-election. Previously, MPs had signed multiple SDs to every Tom, Dick and his hamster, making the statutory declarations unreliable – not even worth the paper it’s written on. However, this is not the only reason why Muhyiddin is unlikely to get the top job.