PN is 'palace-door, not backdoor govt' - Ahmad Maslan

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal administration is not a backdoor government but a legitimate 'palace-door government', said BN's Pontian MP, Ahmad Maslan.

He said this is because PN was installed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who resolved the political crisis following the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

Ahmad (above) also said that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was announced as the premier succeeding Mahathir, was the savior of the country instead of a "traitor" as labelled by some.

He said the Agong had resolved the political crisis with wisdom, following the resignation of Mahathir on Feb 24.

"Even the Agong asked him (Mahathir) not to do so (resign), but he was still adamant to do so," Ahmad noted.

"All of the parliamentarians went to meet the ruler at the palace. Some went in buses, others went in an open-top bus, so the country and the world could see them," said the Umno secretary-general when debating a motion to thank the ruler at the Dewan Rakyat today.

"The political crisis was resolved by the Agong at the palace wisely," he said, adding that Muhyiddin was legitimately appointed as the eighth premier.

"So, this is a legitimate palace-door government, not backdoor government," he proclaimed.

Elaborating further, Ahmad said BN lawmakers initially signed a statutory declaration (SD) to support Mahathir as the premier.

"But the SD was not applied when Mahathir resigned," he pointed out.

"Pagoh (Muhyiddin) is the savior of the country," Ahmad stressed.

In his debate, Ahmad urged the PN government to reinstate all the agencies and units which he claimed were abolished or marginalised by the previous Harapan administration.

This included the controversial National Civics Bureau (BTN) and Special Affairs Department (Jasa).

"What was wrong with BTN? It had camps in all the states to build the nation. Same with Jasa. The thousands who had lost their jobs and had been treated with cruelty prayed for the collapse of the government," he said.

Other agencies and programmes mentioned by Ahmad included the National Service Training Programme (PLKN) and a Seranta Felda Unit which was parked under the Prime Minister's Department and was responsible for recruiting officers to deal with issues related to Felda settlements.

Ahmad also demanded the government to reinstate a pension system for new civil servants.

Meanwhile, he also called for the government to revive the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the foreign exchange losses suffered by Bank Negara Malaysia back in the 1990s.

He wanted those who were responsible for the forex losses to face justice.

Ahmad also urged the government to set up another RCI to probe the sale of Tabung Haji's assets during the 22-months of Harapan's rule. 

'Tenous majority means Muhyiddin can't afford for Umno MPs to be convicted'

Umno man: Warisan the real 'backdoor gov't in Sabah'

Agong's speech proves PN gov't's legitimacy, says Umno man

Once opposed to 'backdoor' ideas, Gerakan now backs Muhyiddin