Politics

Warisan willing to back Anwar as PM if he can get the 'magic number'

KUALA LUMPUR: A Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) leader expressed the Sabah based party's readiness to back PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia's ninth prime minister.

Warisan Youth chief Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman, however, said the party would only back the Port Dickson member of parliament (MP) if he could prove that he has sufficient support.

"Warisan will support Anwar for PM if he can get past the magic number and hopes that Pakatan Harapan (PH) will give right of first refusal to Shafie (Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal) if Anwar can't get past the magic number.

"Once again, just to be clear, now the opposition stays at 105 (Member of Parliament) including Warisan. We hope Anwar can get seven more to cross the 111 number," said Azis in a posting on his Twitter account today.

He added that both Warisan and PKR leaders need to meet face-to-face and show their cards (support) before submitting a name to the palace.

"Whoever gets the highest (support) should be given the opportunity to write their name on the SD (statutory declaration). Do you have any other ideas?," asked Azis in reply to a tweet by a user.

Other Warisan leaders contacted today did not discount the possibility that Shafie, who is also the Semporna member of parliament, would be the prime ministerial candidate.

It is understood that such an arrangement is not only taken by Warisan but also Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).

Based on the members of the parliament list in Dewan Rakyat, Warisan has eight elected representatives while Pejuang has four.

Although the combined numbers of Warisan and Pejuang MPs stand at 12 and are small compared to other parties in Pakatan Harapan, it can influence the number of support for Anwar, who is indeed hopful for a full backing from the opposition bloc.

It is understood that PH is currently working towards gaining support from several MPs from the previous government bloc, especially Umno, in completing the numbers to get a simple majority.

The Dewan Rakyat currently has a 220 strong membership, with two vacancies. A simple majority would require 111 MPs backing an incoming prime minister.s

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