Ex-Malaysian PM Muhyiddin pleads not guilty to sedition charge over alleged remarks on royalty
KUALA LUMPUR - Opposition chief Muhyiddin Yassin pleaded not guilty to a charge of sedition on Aug 27, over a speech in Kelantan earlier in August where he had said he was not invited by the King to form the government despite claiming the majority support of MPs after the 2022 General Election.
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president made the remarks on Aug 14 while campaigning in Nenggiri for the Aug 17 by-election, which his Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance lost to Umno, whose candidate represented Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-coalition government.
The PN chairman left after making his plea in court in Gua Musang – the district where the Nenggiri state seat is located – but the coalition’s assistant secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan told reporters that prosecutors had asked for bail of RM20,000 (S$6,000) and a gag order against Muhyiddin repeating his claims.
“In our view, this is excessive. The maximum fine (for sedition) is only RM5,000,” the Parti Islam SeMalaysia secretary-general said.
He added that the court agreed to set bail at RM5,000 and declined to issue a gag order. The case will be mentioned on Nov 4.
Muhyiddin’s remarks that he had 115 signed declarations of support but was denied a chance to form the government by the then King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah of Pahang, had sparked accusations of insulting royalty as well as a slew of police reports and a rebuke from the state’s palace.
Amid the ensuing investigations, the former premier said on Aug 21 that he had handed the police evidence of backing from enough MPs in the 222-strong Chamber to claim the majority after the 2022 polls resulted in Malaysia’s first hung Parliament.
Should the sedition trial run its course, such evidence would likely be adduced in court, keeping chatter about the legitimacy of Datuk Seri Anwar’s premiership in the limelight years after he took office in November 2022, possibly even up to the next national polls due in early 2028.
“The high-profile case likely puts the spotlight back on the deals made in the aftermath of the hung Parliament, exposing uncomfortable truths, highlighting fragility and potential cracks at a time when personalities and parties in the ‘unity government’ are trying to get over ideological differences,” strategy director Amir Fareed Rahim at KRA Group, a risk consultancy, told The Straits Times.
The administration today boasts a two-thirds supermajority, but the claimed overlaps in support underline the tenuous nature of backing for Mr Anwar outside of his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
“This is probably Muhyiddin’s main intention, to destabilise Anwar by insisting that the support is not solid. Unlike previous opposition blocs, PN cannot do this by calling for votes in Parliament as the government’s numbers are currently overwhelming,” independent public policy consultant Adib Zalkapli told ST.
As recently as January, a so-called Dubai Move – named after the alleged meeting place of conspirators – was being talked about to engineer a change of government.
However, Mr Anwar has been able to increase his numbers in Parliament, thanks to a string of defectors from Muhyiddin’s Bersatu.
That the six Bersatu rebels pledged their support to the PH chief in exchange for millions in annual constituency funds has itself courted controversy, as it runs counter to the coalition’s stated commitment to reforms for equal constituency allocations and anti-party hopping legislation.
Nonetheless, the sedition trial against Muhyiddin is a further legal strain on the Bersatu president on top of ongoing graft charges.
Mr Amir noted that “it puts his parliamentary seat at risk, and with it raises questions on the future of the leadership of PN”, as a guilty verdict could result in the Pagoh MP’s disqualification as a lawmaker.
The government bench now numbers 153 against 69 for the opposition in Parliament.
Source: straitstimes
