PORT DICKSON: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the revelation made by Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman proved that he had a strong majority to form the government before.
Referring to Tajuddin's revelation about the existence of a statutory declaration (SD) in support of Anwar as the next prime minister, he said he was ridiculed after making the claim in the wake of the collapse of the government led by former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in Sept 2020.
"Back then, I mentioned that I had strong and convincing support (to form the government), but many mocked me instead.
"I then decided not to say more because it involved the palace (Anwar had wanted to present the numbers to the the Yang di-Pertuan Agong).
"And now, out of nowhere, the SD (claim) resurfaced. Alhamdulillah, it unravelled by itself."
Anwar said he received messages from leaders who hoped the matter would not be prolonged.
"I replied that it wasn't me who prolonged (the matter). I was not the one who made the revelation," he told reporters after attending an appreciation ceremony for SPM achievers 2021 in Port Dickson.
Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, also claimed that the SDs in support of him to become the next prime minister came with a request to discontinue the court cases faced by certain leaders.
"Not all (SD) went through me, there are those that were sent directly to the palace. These included the 15 from Umno."
He said although the total number of SDs was 120, it was PH's stand not to accept SDs from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Umno president).
"With 118 (remaining) SDs, I (still) had the numbers to become the next prime minister. But I was not prepared to compromise on the independence of the judiciary," he said.
Anwar said Umno then nominated a different prime ministerial candidate when he did not agree to the conditions.
"Do we need to sacrifice our judicial independence and our firm stand against corruption just to become a prime minister? The answer is clear."