PETALING JAYA: Umno’s decision to withdraw support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin rather than the government is to make way for an interim administration, says Najib Razak.
In a Facebook post, the former prime minister said the solution was not to replace “an unstable backdoor government built on treachery” with another.
“An interim administration is the best decision as it will have a fixed term and goals to resolve the Covid-19 situation, provide aid to the people and achieve herd immunity through vaccinations before dissolving Parliament and returning the mandate to the people,” he said.
Najib said this is not only the most appropriate step but it is also for the good of the people and the country in the short or long-term.
This, he said, will also fulfil the wishes of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay rulers who noted last month that there was a need for a strong and stable government.
Najib said an interim government cannot be in power for more than six months as it also has a slim majority and is not the people’s choice.
In any case, he said, Parliament would be dissolved once the current term of the government expires in two years.
“Umno and Barisan Nasional are not afraid to face the people. If Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan believe they have strong support, they should also not be scared to face the people when the time comes,” he said.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had announced after a four-hour Supreme Council meeting last night that the party was officially withdrawing its support for Muhyiddin.
He also asked Muhyiddin to step down as the government had failed to fulfil the two requirements the party had set to justify support for the administration.
The decision came just hours after Muhyiddin had appointed Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the deputy prime minister and Barisan Nasional treasurer-general Hishammuddin Hussein as senior minister for security.-FMT