If you're having trouble following everything that's going on in Malaysian politics right now, don't worry, because the politicians themselves seem to be struggling as well.

Or maybe you should worry because, you know, these are the guys meant to be leading the country.

Tuan Ibrahim makes a claim

On Feb. 27, The Star reported PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (pictured above on the left) as saying that all UMNO and PAS members of parliament (MPs) had signed statutory declarations supporting PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin for prime minister.

All three parties had previously been involved in plans for a breakaway coalition that would have seen the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) deposed.

According to The Star, Tuan Ibrahim said that the parties had originally signed a statutory declaration in support of Mahathir Mohamad to lead their new coalition and government.

However, MPs from UMNO and PAS threw their weight behind Muhyiddin when the sitting prime minister refused to play ball and instead announced his resignation from both his position in government and as chief of PPBM.

He added that "if there isn't a clear (Parliament) majority, we propose for Parliament to be dissolved".

PAS says story not true

This revelation was followed up by a Straits Times report which quoted PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan as saying that The Star story was "totally not true".

"PAS and UMNO remain with the proposal for parliament to be dissolved," he said.

"Any formal statements from PAS only comes from the president and the secretary-general in written form."

Tuan Ibrahim clarifies

This caused PAS' deputy president to come back with a clarification, telling The Star that support for Muhyiddin was signed off on before the parties made the decision to call for a dissolution of parliament.

"We discussed a few names as a proposal to solve the current (political) turmoil," he said via text message.

He elaborated that the Muafakat Nasional (the name of UMNO and PAS's alliance) eventually saw that dissolving parliament was the "best solution".

Tuan Ibrahim's latest statement seems more in line with what the other opposition party leaders are calling for.

The Star reported UMNO secretary-general Annuar Musa as saying that the power to decide should be returned to the people.

He was speaking at a press conference on Tuesday (Feb. 25) where he called for a snap election.

Mahathir vs. Anwar?

This differs from the plans of both Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of PH.

On Feb. 26, Mahathir — who is currently serving as interim prime minister — announced that he would return to the role full time if he had the support of Malaysia's parliament, voicing his opinion if he received support from “both parties”, his time to leave his post had not yet arrived.

He also indicated his vision for a bipartisan government.

Yet, this has seemingly been scuppered by Anwar's own announcement that same day.

While PH had initially backed the leadership of Mahathir, Anwar announced yesterday (Feb. 26) that he was now the coalition's choice for prime minister.

“Pakatan remains committed towards the aspirations and the mandate of the people to bring the country to a greater direction in terms of the economy, politics and society," he said.

“We will not betray this mandate.”

Whatever happens next is anyone's guess.

Top image from Tuan Ibrahim's Facebook page and Imgflip