Anwar said these MPs had been told there would be a change of government through backdoor manoeuvres but it did not happen. He said opposition leaders were just playing on negative sentiments, including racial issues.

“They were given hope; even though I said this roof is not made of thatch but concrete, they moved from Dubai to London, and they forgot that concrete roofs are much thicker,” said Anwar, using a metaphor for the sturdiness of his government, and making a reference to alleged opposition meetings to plan a takeover.

“And when hope is eroded, the MPs who were promised the so-called changes, will leave their parties one by one,” he said when closing a convention of the Perak unity government here today.

Anwar, who is also chairman of Pakatan Harapan, said the unity coalition government, which includes parties from Sabah and Sarawak, is stable and strong, and the parties which had been trying to disrupt it should accept the fact that the government coalition would remain intact until the end of its term.

He said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had also advised political leaders last night to accept the need for unity and to focus on driving growth and talk about plans for the government’s full term of five years.

Anwar said he was confident that the next Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor, would defend this stand when he takes office as head of state.

Anwar said the unity government would focus on efforts to drive the country’s economic growth because it has four more years to prove the success of its administration. His government would continue to uphold national principles, including protecting the rights of the Malays and Bumiputeras, he said.

Among those at the convention were deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is Barisan Nasional chairman, Perak menteri besar and state BN chairman Saarani Mohamad, Perak PH chairman Mujahid Yusof Rawa and DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming.