PETALING JAYA: The political temperature appeared to be heating up amid the worsening Covid-19 pandemic after Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak casts doubt on a press statement claiming to be signed by Barisan Nasional MPs.

       The statement purportedly by Barisan MPs had declared support for the Perikatan Nasional government.

       It added that the Umno supreme council had agreed in its Wednesday night (July 7) meeting to give its MPs the freedom to support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as premier.

       The statement that did not come with the usual Barisan letterhead and a signature also said that the priority of Barisan MPs is to ensure that the agenda on the National Recovery Plan can be achieved.

       Najib said he is a Barisan MP and that he has never agreed to go against the Umno supreme council's decision on Wednesday night to withdraw support for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister.

       "Since when did I agree to go against instructions by the party’s supreme council on Wednesday (July 7)?

       "Who has the list of names mentioned in this statement that was disseminated by unknown quarters?" he questioned in a Facebook post on Thursday (July 8).

       Najib said he would've known the names of all Barisan MPs because he was the one who signed their respective endorsement letters in the previous general election.

       "Please furnish us with the list of names," he added.

       On Thursday (July 8), a statement by Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said that the party's supreme council has decided that its MPs may use their own discretion when it comes to voting in Parliament.

       "However, it should be understood that Umno MPs should use all party decisions as a guide in performing their duties," he said.

       Earlier, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno has officially decided to withdraw support for Muhyiddin as Prime Minister after he failed to abide by the terms set by its supreme council when the government was first sworn in last year.

       Ahmad Zahid said the decision was unanimously decided by the Umno supreme council after a virtual meeting on Wednesday that stretched till the wee hours of Thursday.

       Umno has 38 MPs in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat, which included nine ministers.

       There are 220 MPs out of the 222-seat Parliament at present following the deaths of Batu Sapi MP Datuk Liew Vui Keong and Gerik MP Datuk Hasbullah Osman.