Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the ruling Pakatan Harapan government now has a stronger backing in Parliament following the pledge of support by the newly-formed alliance Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

"They are not members of Harapan but they have pledged their support for the Harapan government so now we have a very strong support in Parliament.

“Even Terengganu has pledged support for the Harapan government," he told a press conference in Tokyo, Japan where he is on an official three-day visit ending today.

Earlier today, Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, who was the Sarawak BN chairperson, announced the exit of all four component parties from the coalition.

Read more: The disintegration of BN - from 13 parties to four

The four are PBB, SUPP, PRS and PDP.

At a press conference held at the PBB headquarters in Kuching, Johari said the four had formed their own coalition called Gabungan Parti Sarawak which would cooperate with the Harapan federal government.

It is widely believed that Johari had informed Mahathir of the decision by the four parties to leave BN during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 31.

Johari is then said to have met interim Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and reportedly informed the latter that PBB could be wiped out in the 2021 Sarawak state polls if it did not distance itself from BN.