RPK claims Muhyiddin sacked for plotting no-confidence vote

Claim contradicts PM’s own version which was that Muhyiddin had breached the principle of collective responsibility

KUALA LUMPUR: Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin today suggested that the real reason why former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was sacked was because he was in the midst of preparing to push a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Najib Razak through Parliament.

Writing on his blog Malaysia Today, RPK, as he is commonly known, claimed that in order to succeed Muhyiddin was required to secure the support of the entire members of parliament on the opposition bench plus another 30 to 40 from Barisan Nasional, which Muhyiddin was supposed to deliver.

The obstacle to the plan, RPK said, was the PAS leadership which was not in favour of the proposal.

“Without the PAS votes they would be dead in the water,” RPK noted.

“And that was why Najib had to remove Muhyiddin,” RPK claimed. “It had nothing to do with 1MDB.”

“The 1MDB issue was going to be the excuse for the vote of no confidence,” he added.

RPK’s claim contradicted the Prime Minister’s own version of events.

In a televised address on July 28, Najib announced that he had removed Muhyiddin for his open criticism of the Prime Minister’s handling of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in breach of the convention of the collective responsibility of the Cabinet.

Ministers “should not air their differences in an open forum that can affect public opinion against the government and Malaysia,” the Prime Minister had said at the time.

Muhyiddin has to date not contradicted the Prime Minister’s version, merely responding that he accepted the decision of the Prime Minister.