PETALING JAYA: Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (pic) has asked Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon whether he had received a letter from Istana Negara, after the latter claimed to be unaware of it.

       In a Twitter post on Thursday (Aug 12) night, Azalina hinted that the letter dated Aug 9 was also copied to both herself and Rashid, asking if he had already read it.

       "The letter dated August 9 was copied to both of us. Have you read it @hjrashidjohor?" wrote Azalina who is from Umno.

       She also accompanied her post with a screenshot of Rashid, who is from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, being quoted by a news portal saying, "There has not been any precedent where the Agong would directly communicate with the Speaker on parliamentary affairs."

       Rashid was quoted by The Vibes of not knowing about the letter from Istana Negara asking Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to confirm the number of MPs supporting Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

       On Thursday (Aug 12), it was reported by Malaysiakini that the Istana Negara had written a letter dated Aug 9 to Azhar asking him to confirm the number of MPs who still supported Muhyiddin.

       When interviewed by The Vibes on the matter, Rashid said that updates on any Dewan Rakyat matter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should come from the Prime Minister and not the Speaker.

       Rashid added that while he was unsure if Azhar had received such a letter, he said that this would go against the normal precedence if it were true as the Agong had never directly communicated with the Speaker on parliamentary affairs.

       In the same tweet, Azalina also uploaded a photo of the King in a meeting with the speaker.

       "YB, didn't we all meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong together on 29 June 2021?" she asked.