Dr M wanted to sit with opposition, law minister says

(FMT) – Law minister Takiyuddin Hassan today revealed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad had requested to sit with the opposition bloc in the Dewan Rakyat during the one-day sitting on May 18, a move which saw the veteran statesman and several others sacked from PPBM last night.

Adding that MPs would be placed with the blocs they wanted, whether government or opposition, he said Mahathir’s request was made in a letter to him which he uploaded to Twitter today.

In the letter, Mahathir who is the MP for Langkawi said he was informing Takiyuddin that he wished to be seated with the bloc that did not support the Perikatan Nasional government.

“Party affairs are an internal matter between members,” Takiyuddin added in the Twitter post.

Mahathir, along with his son Mukhriz, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Maszlee Malik and Amiruddin Hamzah had their PPBM memberships “automatically nullified” for joining the opposition bench in the Dewan Rakyat.

Mahathir had been chairman of the party while Mukhriz, the deputy president, had been set to contest the president’s post. Syed Saddiq meanwhile was the party’s Youth wing chief.

Maszlee meanwhile was the education minister under Pakatan Harapan and Amiruddin was the deputy finance minister.

Last night’s development was the latest in the ongoing tussle between two factions in the party, one led by Mahathir and the other by PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin.