A TOTAL of 114 members of Parliament from Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional, PAS, GPS and several independents has been summoned to Istana Negara tomorrow.

These lawmakers are those who have submitted statutory declarations in support of Ismail Sabri Yaakob to be the next prime minister.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan, who confirmed the matter, said MPs from Umno, Barisan Nasional, Bersatu, GPS and PAS have been summoned to Istana Negara between 10am to 4pm tomorrow.

They are being summoned in groups of 25 for the Agong to verify their support.

Earlier today, all MPs were told to submit their SDs by 4pm to Istana Negara as their prime ministerial candidate.

The Malaysian Insight reported earlier that 114 MPs have supported Ismail, who is also the Umno vice-president.

A total of 105 is said to have supported Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim.

One MP’s vote is unknown.

Two seats in the 222 seat Dewan Rakyat are vacant following the death of their incumbents last year.

With the support of 114 lawmakers, Ismail has a simple majority to lead a new government.

His support is basically the same as those who backed Muhyiddin Yassin to become the prime minister in March last year.

However, the Bersatu chairman was forced to resign on Monday after losing his simple majority.

This happened after a group of 15 Umno lawmakers led by its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi withdrew their support for Muhyiddin.

Twenty-three other Umno lawmakers, including Ismail, however continued to back Muhyiddin but that was not enough for the government to stand.

Now, however, the party lawmakers have united to support Ismail to become the nation’s ninth prime minister. – August 18, 2021.