Muhyiddin submits 115 SDs backing him as PM in 2022 to police

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin has submitted to police 114 statutory declarations - in addition to his own - backing him as prime minister in the aftermath of the 15th general election in November 2022.

He also submitted a letter from the private secretary to the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah affirming that he had received the declarations on Nov 21, 2022.

The media were later given a copy of Muhyiddin’s SD to the palace dated Nov 21, 2022, in which he mentioned that he had attached to his document 51 SDs from PN, PAS (22), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS-22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS-6), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Malaysia (KDM-1), as well as SDs from 10 BN MPs and two independent MPs.

The SDs from PN and PAS MPs were separate as PN had contested using the PAS logo in Terengganu and Kelantan.

The attachments mentioned in Muhyiddin’s SD, however, were neither provided to the media nor was the media given a breakdown of the MPs that had signed the SDs backing him.

The SDs were collected in the immediate aftermath of GE15, which ended with a hung Parliament.

READ MORE: Fadillah reveals why GPS changed its mind on PM candidate

GPS and GRS had initially supported Muhyiddin but later switched their support to Anwar Ibrahim when Sultan Abdullah advised MPs to form a “unity government”.

BN MPs, meanwhile, were wrangled by coalition chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi into backing Anwar.

Muhyiddin had rejected an offer to form a unity government with Anwar's Pakatan Harapan.

The SDs and letters were among the documents Muhyiddin furnished to the police as part of their probe into allegations that he had insulted the former king by bringing up how he had not been invited to form a government after GE15 despite having the support of 115 MPs - including himself.

During his speech at Felda Perasu in Kelantan on Aug 14, Muhyiddin also said he was unsure why Sultan Abdullah did not invite him to the palace to be sworn in.

“It’s not that I want to bring up the past but it is recorded history.

“But I don’t know how… the Agong back then didn’t invite me to the palace to get sworn in. Who was the previous Agong? It’s (from) Pahang lah,” Muhyiddin was reported as saying.

‘Not meant to insult’

Muhyiddin, who declined to speak to the press after he was grilled by police, reiterated in a statement today that his remarks during a ceramah in Nenggiri were factual and were not meant to insult Sultan Abdullah.

“I only stated facts about 115 SDs from MPs that gave confidence in me to be appointed as prime minister after GE15.

“There is not a single word in my speech that insults the royalty or questions the decision of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the time,” he said.

He added that the tussle to become premier was two years ago and that during this period he had never incited the public to insult or hate the institution of the constitutional monarchy.

“I am also not demanding to become prime minister,” he said, noting that he had congratulated Anwar on becoming premier on Nov 24, 2022.

He stressed that his loyalty to constitutional monarchy should also not be questioned.

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