KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has dared the speakers of the Dewan Rakyat and the Selangor State Assembly to declare the seven defected seats as vacant.
In his keynote speech at the Perikatan Nasional Member of Parliament and Assemblymen Convention, he said, the mandate should be given back to the rakyat.
"I dare them to declare all the six parliamentary and one state seats (of Perikatan Nasional leaders voicing support for the unity government) as vacant.
"Give the mandate back to the rakyat to make their decision.
"I'm not trying to boast but I'm confident that Perikatan Nasional will win back the seats and we will win big," he said.
The defected members of parliament are Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) dan Datuk Dr Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).
The state assemblyman is Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari (Selat Klang).
Muhyiddin added that despite the prizes offered to the leaders, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should understand that the people's negative perception towards the government would not change.
He said a PN assemblyman was told by a member of his constituency that they would rather not receive any allocation than seeing him declaring support towards the Unity Government.
He claimed the move to fish support from the PN leaders would backfire on the government.
"Yes, they have the power as a government, but remember our experience in the past shows that the power of the government does not necessarily produce the support of the people.
"If the power of the government is not used to defend the fate of the people, but is used in the wrong way to maintain power, the people will reject the government in the elections. For me, this is the political situation and reality in our country today.
"The people know your plays. The people know your evil intentions. People hate your actions," he said.
Muhyiddin said as the government is dealing with a chronic trust deficit among the rakyat, they are also controlling the narrative on social media.
"They don't want the people to criticise the government because of their own weaknesses and make them even more unpopular.
"That's why lately social media is strictly controlled. For example, the Putrajaya Member of Parliament's tiktok video about the depreciating ringgit, which reached millions of views, was blocked.
"Why should it be blocked? Aren't they the most vocal advocates for media freedom? They said that they are fighting for democracy and human rights. Why when they are the government of the day they greedily use power to restrict freedom? Turns out, they are all hypocrites," he said.