Zahid again warns BN MPs to toe the line, wants palace deadline extended

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reminded BN MPs again that they would violate their undertakings signed with the coalition if they do not follow the top leadership's decision on who to back as prime minister.

Zahid said that BN had yet to enter into any negotiations with any bloc, and that it needed more time before submitting statutory declarations to the Dewan Rakyat speaker, as instructed by Istana Negara yesterday.

"Any individual who signs a document or SD to nominate anyone as a candidate for prime minister will be in violation of the party's ruling as well as the SD signed by every BN candidate before, and as such it would be deemed invalid," he said. 

Zahid's statement comes even as he and several BN leaders are believed to have started negotiations with Pakatan Harapan leaders, all of whom are gathered at the Seri Pacific Hotel next to the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Yesterday, Zahid denied that BN MPs had agreed to join forces with GPS and GRS to back Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, and issued a stern reminder that only he has the mandate to decide who BN MPs support.

This came after Sarawak's GPS declared that all 22 of its MPs would back Muhyiddin, alongside those from Sabah's GRS.

Zahid has come under intense pressure to step down as Umno president and BN chairman after the coalition was trashed by PN in the recent election.

This was followed by reports from Utusan Malaysia that a majority of BN MPs were defying Zahid, and had already signed SDs in support of Muhyiddin.