KUALA LUMPUR – The crisis in beleaguered Umno could take its toll by tonight as its supreme council makes a decision on whether to remain in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) fold.
While waves of discontent have been emerging for the largest Malay-based party since September, the Umno Supreme Council has often voted in favour of being part of the Malay party triumvirate, others being splinter Bersatu and Islamist PAS.
On the other hand, Pakatan Harapan (PH) component party PKR has over the months expressed its willingness to collaborate with Umno lawmakers in forming a government, despite the tug of war between both sides on the matter.
With each Umno Supreme Council decision to stick with PN previously, PH’s openness, as well as that of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has been met with harsh criticism from segments of the public and PKR members.
This time, however, PH and Anwar have chosen to take a back seat. The ball is in Umno’s court, for now, as the division among the three Malay-based parties has never been clearer.
According to a source in PKR circles, having learnt their lesson previously, the party and its partners will be “playing a waiting game”.
“The PH leadership is very clear on the matter, following events that transpired during Budget 2021 and the Perak menteri besar crisis.
“A lot of issues have come to light within Umno and PH over the possibility of working together and forming the government.
“Admittingly, there are a lot of matters to be ironed out. While PH may feel that the Umno leadership can be very fickle-minded on this situation given past engagements, the possibility of working together has not been fully dismissed.
“But a PN advertisement published in The Star recently must have really incensed Umno leaders and members. A couple of my friends in Umno called me to rant about it,” the source said, commenting on the advertisement that omitted Umno leaders.
The source added that the announcement of PN state leadership that only included Bersatu and PAS for the coming general election has deepened the cracks between the three parties.
When asked about a scenario post-supreme council meeting, the source said there are several plausible scenarios.
“It could be that Umno will remain with the PN government until its dissolution, and will either try to work things out on its own under the Barisan Nasional (BN) banner or seek out PH parties in an unprecedented alliance to form a government now or after the general election.
“It might even push for a sole alliance with PKR that could threaten PH as a coalition,” the source said, adding that either way, PH and PKR will be ready.
Umno’s infighting over support for the present Bersatu-helmed administration took an ugly turn when Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa was removed from his posts as secretary-general for BN and Muafakat Nasional (MN) yesterday.
Annuar, ostensibly unaware of the decision, took to Twitter to share a WhatsApp message he sent to Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, thanking the latter for the opportunity given to him.
“President, I was informed by the press that I have been sacked (from the positions). I would like to say thank you for the opportunity to helm the two posts,” he said in his message.
It is speculated that the decision to replace Annuar came after several Umno leaders and warlords demanded he leave the party and join Bersatu over his adamant defence of the PN administration.
Among other things, Annuar has steadfastly defended Muhyiddin’s position as prime minister, and maintained that Umno should continue cooperating with Bersatu despite dissatisfaction from within.
Having assumed both posts, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan told the media that traditionally, the Umno secretary-general will hold the same position in BN and, by default, MN.
Ahmad said tonight’s supreme council meeting will be crucial in evaluating the decision made by the majority of Umno warlords – that they do not want to work with Bersatu any longer. – The Vibes, January 6, 2021
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