Ex-Malaysia PM Muhyiddin to be questioned by police over ...

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will on Tuesday (Aug 20) give a police statement over recent remarks he made in Kelantan on the formation of the country’s current unity government that allegedly touched upon royal sensitivities.

Several police reports have been lodged against Muhyiddin - including by the Pahang Palace - for purportedly questioning the role of Malaysia’s king in the formation of the government following the 15th General Election (GE15) in November 2022. 

Pahang ruler Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah was the king during that period and stepped down earlier this year under Malaysia’s unique rotational monarch system. 

“We are calling (Muhyiddin) to provide his statement on Aug 20 to facilitate investigations,” Malaysia’s Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama, adding that 29 reports have been lodged against the former premier. 

Muhyiddin - who is currently the president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) - was the country’s eighth prime minister and held power from March 2020 to Aug 2021. 

In a clip of his speech that was reported to have been made on Aug 15 at Felda Perasu in the lead-up to a state legislative by-election in Kelantan, Muhyiddin questioned the formation of the current unity government following GE15. The video has since gone viral. 

“I had (the support of) 115 parliamentarians. If we followed the Constitution, I had a total that was more than enough to become the prime minister. I don’t want to bring it up, but it is a record of history.

“But I don’t know how the king at the time did not invite me to the palace to be sworn in. Who was the king at the time? Pahang,” said Muhyiddin, referring to Pahang’s Sultan Abdullah. 

On Monday afternoon, Muhyiddin said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that his speech in Nenggiri was a factual statement that did not mean to insult the royal institution or to incite the public.

“I believe that my statement did not violate any laws of the country. I will give my full cooperation to the police to clarify the facts behind my statement,” he said.  

Earlier on Monday morning, Pahang Crown Prince Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah said that Muhyiddin’s initial remarks were cynical, harmful and dangerous among other things. 

“The statement seems immature, reflecting his inability to accept that he was not appointed as Prime Minister,” he said, adding that the remarks incited distrust in the Malay royal institution.

Tengku Hassanal also urged the police to take action against Muhyiddin who is also chairman of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) opposition coalition.  

PN - which is made up of Bersatu, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) - had won 74 seats in GE15.

During his five-year reign as Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah had overseen one of the country’s most politically turbulent times where four prime ministers had served under him.   

In February last year, Sultan Abdullah said that he had given ample room for elected Members of Parliament (MPs) to work together and find a consensus based on the principles of unity for the future of the country. 

“Based on the Federal Constitution … I consented to the appointment of Anwar Ibrahim as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia,” he was quoted as saying by news portal The Star then.

Mr Anwar was sworn in as prime minister on Nov 24, 2022, after GE15 failed to produce a clear winner and resulted in a hung parliament. He currently leads a unity government comprising his Pakatan Harapan coalition and the previous ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN).

Other parties and coalitions that currently back the unity government include Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan (Warisan).

Sultan Abdullah was quoted by the Star then that he had no intention of interfering in national politics and that he was only carrying out his duties as king.

“If the episodes leading to the resignation of the seventh prime minister did not happen, I believe that the political turmoil that lasted till GE15 could’ve been avoided.

“More importantly, the political crisis that plagued the country for nearly four years could’ve been avoided if elected representatives and politicians were ready to set aside their differences and unite for the people and the country we loved,” the king was quoted as saying.

In 2020, the “Sheraton Move” crumbled the Mahathir Mohamad administration from within. Part of this plot was reportedly hatched in the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya.

The move saw more than 30 MPs in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance defecting, bringing it down after it had been in charge for just 22 months.

The two following administrations lasted 17 months under Muhyiddin and 15 months under Mr Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Muhyiddin’s comments on Aug 15 were made in the lead-up to the Nenggiri by-election that was held on Aug 17. 

It was won by BN candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani, who defeated PN’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail by a majority of 3,352 votes.
 
This was the first time since GE15 that a seat changed hands from one party to another.  

During the state elections that were held in August last year, Mr Mohd Azizi Abu Naim – then with Bersatu - won the seat with a majority of just 810 votes over the BN candidate at the time.

The by-election was triggered after the Kelantan speaker declared that Mr Mohd Azizi had ceased to be a member of Bersatu after declaring support for Mr Anwar as prime minister, the first time that the anti-party hopping law had been triggered. 

Mr Mohd Azizi was also among the six Bersatu-elected representatives in parliament who declared their support to the leadership of Mr Anwar, although parliament speaker Johari Abdul said they did not need to vacate their seats.

Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan told CNA that United Malays National Organisation’s (UMNO) win was convincing and pointed to the turnout during the by-election which was significantly higher at 73.9 per cent compared to 61 per cent during the state elections. UMNO is a component party within the BN coalition. 

“I believe that this particular increase in turnout was by the UMNO supporters who had not voted in the state elections. 

“The party’s by-election director Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah has said those campaigning in the by-election needed to be vetted first, meaning that PH and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) were not welcome. 

“Their supporters read this as an implicit statement that the party was willing to go against PH and DAP and resulted in positive vibes for them,” Dr Azmi said, adding that the area had been a BN stronghold.