Warisan will back Anwar only if he gets past the ‘magic number’, says Youth chief

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) is willing to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister, but only if the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief already has a certain “magic number” to be able to form government, Datuk Azis Jamman said today.

The Warisan Youth chief also said he hopes PH will allow his party president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal the right to refuse support if Anwar was unable to get the necessary numbers.

“Warisan will support DSAI for PM if DSAI can get pass [sic] the magic number and hope PH will give right of first refusal to Shafie if DSAI can’t get pass [sic] the magic number,” Azis posted on Twitter this afternoon.

Asked to clarify the “magic number”, Azis pointed out that Anwar only has the backing of 105 MPs out of 220 in the Dewan Rakyat so far. The Lower House of Parliament has 222 seats fully, but two are currently vacant due to the deaths of their elected representatives.

“Minimum 111 out of 220 MPs. As it stands today, Opposition is at 105 MPs so we are short of 7 extra MPs. Minimum 111 out of 220 MPs,” he said.

In a later tweet, he added that the 105 included the other Opposition parties and listed Warisan, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) led by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, and Parti Bersatu Sarawak led by Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.

Azis said Anwar could have to find the seven other MPs on his own.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has called the various political party leaders for an audience at Istana Negara to find out who among the MPs commands the support of the majority.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun issued a notice this morning instructing the MPs to submit in writing to Istana Negara their candidate for the next prime minister.

The MPs have until 4pm tomorrow to do so.