Muhyiddin's former political secretary reveals Perikatan offer to BN during GE15 talks

The Star

20-07-2025

SHAH ALAM: The former political secretary to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has exposed a letter in which he claims that Barisan Nasional had been offered the Deputy Prime Minister's post in talks after the 15th General Elections in 2023.
In revealing this, Datuk Dr Marzuki Mohamad ( pic ) said the letter indicated that Perikatan not only offered the Deputy Prime Minister's role but was also willing to provide Cabinet positions and other government roles as necessary.
He said this refutes claims by former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli, who alleged that Perikatan did not offer any positions and looked down on Barisan.
"I watched a video of Rafizi claiming that Perikatan made no offers to Barisan during the government formation negotiations after GE15,' said Marzuki.
"In fact, he claimed that Muhyiddin looked down on Umno. He said he had insiders in the Perikatan-Barisan negotiations at the St Regis Hotel on Nov 23, 2022. I don't know if he really has 'insiders'. Rafizi, you are lying," Marzuki added in a Facebook post on Saturday (July 19).
Marzuki then said that he was fully involved in the negotiations from beginning to end and added that the talks took place in a cordial atmosphere.
"Never once did Muhyiddin belittle Umno. Besides, everyone present were his friends in Umno and Barisan. They spoke like friends.
"Secondly, there must be offers in negotiations. The Barisan delegation came with the offer of Barisan Members of Parliament giving 'en-bloc' support to Muhyiddin as Prime Minister,' said Marzuki.
"In return, Perikatan offered the Deputy Prime Minister position to Barisan, along with Cabinet positions based on the composition of parliamentary seats won, and several other matters," he said.
He added that the Deputy Prime Minister from Barisan was not determined; it had to be negotiated between the Prime Minister and Barisan leadership.
Marzuki then said that at the end of the negotiations, the Barisan delegation led by Deputy Chairman, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, requested that the offers be made in writing for presentation at the Umno supreme council meeting that evening.
"After the negotiations ended, I sat with Perikatan Secretary-General, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, and others to prepare a letter containing Perikatan's offer to Barisan.
"The letter addressed to the Barisan Deputy Chairman, was handed over on the same day. At that time, I saw no reason for Umno to reject the offer with the reasonable terms discussed and agreed upon in principle during the negotiations. It just needed to be brought to the Umno supreme council for confirmation," he said.
However, Marzuki added that he was unsure if the letter was discussed at the Umno supreme council meeting on the night of Nov 23.
He then said that later on that night, he was surprised to read a media statement from the Umno secretary-general stating that the supreme council had decided to reject cooperation with Perikatan and chose to collaborate with Pakatan Harapan instead.
"I was speechless. But what can be done? It was already late at night, the decision had been made, the body was tired, so I just went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be better than yesterday,' said Marzuki.
"I am not an important person, but I have been destined to be involved in many political negotiations. I do not like to disclose negotiation details, but if it has become a source of lies and slander, it is my responsibility to state the truth,' he added.