James Masing
KUCHING (Aug 15): Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing said today that he would rather hold his comments with regard to the latest political development in Putrajaya.
The Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president said rumours had been circulating since a couple of days ago, but he ought to remain unfazed by them.
“A lot of of rumours and speculations have been flying around in the last few days. Unfortunately, I don’t deal with rumours and speculations. I will wait till the truth comes out,” he told The Borneo Post today.
He said this when prompted for comments on rife speculation that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would soon step down.
According to an Oriental Daily report, Muhyiddin is expected to tender his resignation during an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong tomorrow.
The Borneo Post’s sister paper quoted an unnamed Cabinet member as saying that Muhyiddin is expected to tender his resignation, rather than holding on to the premiership until Parliament reconvenes next month.
It has been speculated that Muhyiddin will be stepping down as the prime minister following the loss of majority support from the Dewan Rakyat for his initiatives involving Parliamentary reforms announced on Friday.
On Friday, Muhyiddin expressed his willingness to work with parties outside of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government following a scheduled vote of confidence in Parliament.
He said in a special address that after the confidence vote was done, there would be a more stable and inclusive government that recognised bipartisan input in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Later that day, many opposition MPs rejected Muhyiddin’s bipartisan cooperation offer, lamenting that the prime minister was only reaching out to them due to his majority support in Parliament in doubt.