Zahid Hamidi alleges that Umno MPs are for sale and can be bribed-bought

(FMT) – The nation could see a repeat of “frogs” jumping to other parties in the next few weeks, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has warned as he pushes for a confidence motion to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat as soon as possible.

The Umno president said such a “tragedy” had occurred after the last general election (GE), alluding to party members jumping ship to Bersatu after the 2018 elections.

“We know that ‘frogs’ don’t just leap (anywhere). They could be looking for bribes or ways to save themselves,” he said in a Facebook post.

This was why Umno wants the confidence motion to be tabled immediately before more “frogs” are lured, Zahid said.

However, the former deputy prime minister said the public would assess elected representatives who jumped ship.

“They will know what to do with these ‘frogs’ come GE15.”

In insisting that he would not bow to calls to resign as prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin has said his government will table a motion of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat in September to test his majority.

He made the promise after he received a letter from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong notifying him that eight Umno MPs had withdrawn support for him and in the wake of claims he had lost the majority.

Umno has since claimed more of its MPs have submitted statutory declarations that they were no longer backing Muhyiddin, while the opposition – including former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pejuang – has also reaffirmed that it would not support the administration.

Earlier today, Pakatan Harapan said it was “highly inappropriate” to postpone the confidence vote until September and that the legitimacy of the Perikatan Nasional-led government must be decided now.