PN ministers who wrote to King were just following orders, says Ismail Sabri
SHAH ALAM: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic) does not fault the 12 Perikatan Nasional ministers who wrote to the King against the dissolution of Parliament.
“Although inappropriate, the letter they wrote was because of a directive from the (coalition).
“I don’t blame them for following party orders,” the caretaker Prime Minister told reporters after opening the Damansara-Shah Alam (DASH) expressway on Thursday (Oct 13).
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He said the 12 were influenced by their party leaders, and such pressures would have destabilised the government.
“If the government is not stable, how are we to carry on with economic recovery and other agendas?” he asked.
On Oct 8, Perikatan secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin denied claims by Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan who said the government’s legitimacy had been partly lost because of the letter.
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On Monday (Oct 10), Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of Parliament, paving the way for the 15th General Election (GE15) to be held within 60 days.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri took a swipe at the Opposition who questioned the dissolution of Parliament.
“They (the Opposition) said we are a back door government.
“They should be thankful to me and glad for what I did to hasten the general election to allow the rakyat to choose the government they truly want,” he added.
If this was not done, he said, it would lead to more claims against the legitimacy of the government.
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“The issue (of the back door government) cannot be raised again because the mandate has been returned to the rakyat,” he said.
The country has seen three prime ministers since 2018 owing to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration in February 2020.
Pakatan Harapan, which lost control of Putrajaya then, continuously questioned the legitimacy of successive administrations – first under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and then Ismail Sabri – accusing them of being back door governments that came to power because of the so-called Sheraton Move.