Muhyiddin’s claim of 115 SDs is ‘true and correct’, says Lau

Gerakan president Dominic Lau said the party would work with its Perikatan Nasional colleagues to support the coalition candidate in the Mahkota by-election.

KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan president Dominic Lau said his party has no objection to Perikatan Nasional president Muhyiddin Yassin’s controversial claim that he was not appointed prime minister after the 15th general election.

Lau said Muhyiddin’s claim that he had received the support of 115 MPs to form a government based on a simple majority was “true and correct”.

“I was there (with Muhyiddin) the day after the election, on November 19, 2022. The next day (November 21), we received a message from the palace to submit the solemn declarations that we had received before 2 p.m.

“All the statements made by Muhyiddin are factual and Gerakan has no problem (with them).

“My presence on the day Muhyiddin recorded his statement with the police shows our support for him,” Lau told reporters at Gerakan headquarters today.

Lau said Muhyiddin had submitted 115 SDs to the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, but he (Lau) could not ascertain whether any of these MPs had also promised to support another candidate for prime minister.

Muhyiddin is being investigated by police for questioning over a speech he made during the Nenggiri by-election campaign over why the former king did not ask him to become prime minister after the 2015 general election.

The Bersatu president’s remarks prompted numerous police reports calling for tough action against him for questioning the king’s authority.

The Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, had also expressed anger at Muhyiddin for his remarks, accusing him of denigrating the former king.

Muhyiddin has since defended his speech, saying it was not intended to insult the monarchy or incite the public, but was factual.

As part of the police investigation, Muhyiddin submitted the SDs of 115 MPs who apparently supported him as prime minister shortly after the 15 general elections.

Loh Kah Yong Gerakan, director of elections for Mahkota

Meanwhile, Lau said Gerakan had appointed its secretary-general, Loh Kah Yong, as the party’s election director for the upcoming Mahkota by-election.

Lau said Loh, who hails from Johor, will assist PN’s chief electoral officer Azmin Ali in the by-election to be held on September 28.

He said Gerakan would also form a special committee with Bersatu’s associate wing, PAS’s non-Muslim supporters’ wing and new component party MIPP to woo non-Malay and non-Muslim voters in Mahkota.

“We understand that 30% of Mahkota voters are Chinese, so we will set up this special committee to help the PN,” he said.

The by-election follows the death of Umno MP Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain on August 2 while receiving treatment in hospital for internal bleeding.

Nominations will take place on September 14 and early voting on September 24.

According to the Election Commission data in 2022, Mahkota State Constituency has 65,074 eligible voters, of which 54.51% are Malays, 34.52% are Chinese, 7.72% are Indians and 2.69% are others.