Letter to Agong sent after PKR fails to gather MPs’ support for Anwar

A plan by PKR leaders to submit their chairman Anwar Ibrahim to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as their prime ministerial candidate had to be ditched after they failed to show that the opposition leader has the majority support of MPs, MalaysiaNow has learned.

A senior PKR leader who spoke on condition of strict anonymity said it was instead agreed that they would focus only on MPs who are against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“Showing that opposition MPs are not supportive of the sitting prime minister is a foregone conclusion, it is stating the obvious.

“But it was something they had to do to complement Umno’s earlier letter to the Agong.

“They are aware that unless they have a prime ministerial name, it changes nothing in the context of the convention of toppling the current government,” said the politician who is also a PKR office bearer.

It is understood that Pakatan Harapan (PH) and several other MPs claim to have gathered more than 100 names, adding to the 14 that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party had submitted to the Agong.

But while opposition blocs outside of the PH coalition have also demanded for Muhyiddin’s resignation, they are against any attempt to name Anwar as prime minister, which is the main objective of a plan hatched by Zahid and former leader Najib Razak last year.

“Until now, that candidate hasn’t been named due to the intense opposition from MPs who could play the role of kingmaker,” the PKR source added.

Last week, Zahid in a letter to the Agong listed the names of 14 MPs from Umno whom he said had withdrawn their support for Muhyiddin.

However, a source within the group says they are not prepared to work with Anwar or DAP to form a new government.