UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his party has presented evidence to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to show which of its MPs have withdrawn support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Zahid went on to say Muhyiddin’s position as prime minister has lost its legitimacy and he should resign.

“Umno has enough MPs who have withdrawn support from the prime minister, hence he has no more legitimacy and has lost his majority,” Zahid told an online press conference today.

Muhyiddin is said to have the support of 115 out of 220 MPs in Parliament, but this has yet to be tested with a vote of confidence.

Umno has 38 MPs, but Zahid today did not state how many had signed statutory declarations withdrawing their support for Muhyiddin.

“I have with me the list of MPs who agreed to pull their backing for Muhyiddin and the list has been sent to the king for his perusal,” said Zahid, the MP for Bagan Datuk.

There were 10 Umno MPs standing with him at the press conference today: Najib Razak (Pekan), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang), Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang), Noh Omar (Tanjong Karang), Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit), Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling), Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut), Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang) and Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands).

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hassan, who is not a federal lawmaker, was also present.

Zahid said his announcement was the decision of the Umno Supreme Council, which had just concluded a virtual meeting.

The party’s decision also follows the resignation of Lenggong MP Shamsul Anuar Nasarah from Muhyiddin’s cabinet as energy and natural resources minister.

Zahid said the supreme council had decided to back the king over the crisis between the government and the royal palace regarding, the recent dispute over emergency ordinances that were not tabled in Parliament.

“We choose to stand with the king and not the Perikatan Nasional government under Muhyiddin, who has clearly failed in the eyes of the people.

“Muhyiddin must take responsibility for the government’s failure and for contradicting the king’s decree, by honourably resigning as prime minister,” Zahid added.

He noted that the king had several times ordered the government to table the emergency ordinances in Parliament, as required by the federal constitution, and to do so before August 1, not in September.

Earlier today, Muhyiddin in a statement said the government will table the ordinances in the Parliament sitting scheduled for September, ending the impasse between the government and the palace over how the emergency laws should be revoked. – August 3, 2021.