Kuala Lumpur: Even the rulers and then attorney-general had questioned Muhyiddin Yassin’s claim of having the support of 115 MPs to form the government after the 2022 general election (GE15), says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar reiterated that several MPs were also known to have signed more than one statutory declaration (SD) after GE15, while others left it to their respective party leaders to decide who to back for the top post.
“As far as I know, the then attorney-general (Idrus Harun), who was appointed by Muhyiddin, and the rulers questioned the numbers, so it was left to the king (Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah) to use his discretion.
"That was clear. Prior to this, I avoided commenting on this, but he (Muhyiddin) has kept on talking about this 115 MPs issue," he told reporters at Sungai Penchala here before performing Friday prayers.
Idrus, a former Federal Court judge, was made attorney-general in March 2020, shortly after the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government.
His two-year contract was extended by six months by Anwar’s government, while Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh took over the post after that.
Muhyiddin, the Perikatan Nasional president, is being probed for allegedly disparaging the former king in a speech at a PN Nenggiri by-election campaign event. He had questioned why he was not invited by the then king to become the prime minister after GE15.
The former prime minister defended his speech, saying it was not intended to insult the monarchy or incite the public, but was "based on facts"..
On Wednesday, the Bersatu president submitted several documents to the police to assist in the probe, including what he said were the SDs from the 115 MPs.
Previously, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed that 10 MPs had signed two SDs each – one backing Barisan Nasional and the other supporting Muhyiddin.
