Malaysia: Hishammuddin’s office denies he wrote to king to form new govt

• FOREIGN Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s office has dismissed as fake a letter purportedly written by him to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah stating his readiness to form a new government.
• The letter, written on an official Barisan Nasional letterhead, also listed 34 cabinet members in the new government.
• The letter appeared to have been signed by Hishammuddin, with an acknowledgement stamp from Istana Negara, and went viral on social media earlier on 23 Jun 21.
• Hishamuddin’s office said on Twitter that the letter was fake. “It is a political provocation with bad intentions, meant to confuse people,” the tweet said.
• Hishammuddin, who is also Barisan Nasional treasurer, later shared the tweet.
• Hishammuddin has called for the police to identify the culprits behind the fake letter, stating a police report will be lodged on the letter on 24 Jun 21 so that the culprits could be identified.
• This comes after Padang Rengas MP Mohamed Nazri Aziz revealed that he had collected statutory declarations from 25 Barisan Nasional and Umno lawmakers in support of Hishammuddin as their spokesperson to the king.
• He said they had lost confidence in Umno president and BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who they said had thrown his support behind Anwar Ibrahim to become prime minister.
• In response, Zahid scoffed at Nazri’s claim, chiding that the 25 SDs stating their loss of confidence in him is a “cartoon story”.
• Meanwhile, Nazri has continued to lay the heat on Zahid, this time claiming that it was Zahid who got Umno MPs to retract their support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government early in 2021, but then did not do so himself.
• The Padang Rengas MP and former Umno Supreme Council member told MalaysiaNow that Zahid had tricked MPs including himself.
• Nazri withdrew his support for the PN government after the state of emergency was declared on 12 Jan 21. Another Umno lawmaker who did likewise was Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub.
• “This affair was orchestrated by the president. Within the group of MPs at the time, the president decided that we would pull out one by one,” Nazri said
• Nazri also told MalaysiaNow he will adhere to his party’s decision made at the Umno general assembly to remain with the PN government until the 15th general election. The assembly also gave the mandate to the Umno’s Supreme Council to take the party out of the government anytime it sees fit.

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