I’m not as stupid as to want Covid-19 to continue just for political gain: Rahman Dahlan

KOTA KINABALU – Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan issued a fiery denial of a recent allegation, saying his statement was misinterpreted and cut short after party members interrupted him in a discussion. 

“I am not as stupid as claimed by PBBM (Bersatu) as to want Covid-19 to spread so Umno can take political advantage during the pandemic.  

“I have close family members who died because of Covid-19. My child had also contracted Covid-19 before and it was a scary experience for my family and me.  

“I also personally know a lot of people who have been facing extreme economic and financial problems that will take years to recover from,” Rahman said in a Facebook post today.  

He said during the recent Supreme Council meeting, he was given a short time to express his views, but an Umno minister who is not a council member had spread the allegation based on a part of his speech and misunderstood what he wanted to say.  

“When I said that now is the time to withdraw support for the current prime minister, I wanted to point out that Bersatu has been using all sorts of tactics to attack Umno when the situation is in their favour,” he said.

“I gave three examples of when this had happened. Firstly, Bersatu intentionally gave Umno non-strategic ministerial positions, and was denied the deputy prime minister post even though Umno is the biggest and most significant component party in the government.  

“Secondly, during the Sabah polls last year, Bersatu sponsored friendly independent candidates to defeat Umno so Bersatu would have more power.  

“Thirdly, when Umno assisted the prime minister in making decisions and voted to support Budget 2021, Bersatu then continued to pressure Umno with various tactics and political ploys to weaken Umno after the budget was passed.”  

Rahman added that Bersatu had repeatedly accused Umno of working with DAP and Pakatan Harapan to topple the current government.  

“For Bersatu, the concept of partnership does not exist in their political dictionary. Bersatu really knows how to play politics, I salute them.  

“Bersatu played nice with Umno when they were desperate, and pressured us when the situation sided with them.”

He said the nation’s effort to fight Covid-19 would not stop when a prime minister has changed, what more if the new prime minister is from the existing government.  

“During the meeting, I also stressed that millions of Malaysians have been financially affected, and Umno as a party that fights for Malaysians must take immediate action to save our economy.

“I also said that the efforts of Umno ministers in the cabinet to fight Covid-19 have been undermined by certain parties in the cabinet. When Umno closed the front door, someone opened the back door.  

“I sympathised with Umno ministers who have been ordered by the prime minister to manage the pandemic. 

“They had been greatly criticised when the Covid-19 situation was bad. My worry is that when the Covid-19 situation improves, these Umno ministers will not get the credit they deserve.” 

At the end of his 12.50am online broadcast yesterday, after more than four hours locked in an emergency meeting, party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with the Supreme Council pulled support for Perikatan Nasional and Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The party also called on Muhyiddin to step down honourably and make way for a new prime minister, with the focus being on putting Malaysia back on track amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zahid said the new prime minister must call a general election after the country attains herd immunity, so as to have a stable government in place. – The Vibes, July 9, 2021