[UPDATED] Ku Li can sit away from Perikatan no problem: Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR – Umno has not decided en bloc on whether its MPs will join party adviser Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang-BN) in sitting with independent lawmakers in the Dewan Rakyat.

President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Bagan Datuk-BN) told The Vibes that it is the Gua Musang MP’s personal decision to be seated away from Perikatan Nasional.

“We have not yet made any decision.”

Asked if Tengku Razaleigh will face action by the Umno disciplinary committee, Zahid said this will not happen.

He added that the party veteran never signed a statutory declaration backing Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration.

Ku Li has never signed any SD supporting Muhyiddin. His decision to sit with the independents is his personal right. From the start, he has neither supported nor signed any SD supporting the prime minister.

“Since he has never supported them, we will not take any disciplinary action against him.”

In the context of Malaysian politics, breakaways within a party are still relatively new and controversial, as the local convention demands that party MPs toe the line.

Tengku Razaleigh yesterday submitted a letter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun requesting a change in seating as he does not want to be seen as backing a “failed” government.

Azhar today confirmed receiving the letter, and instructed the Dewan Rakyat secretary to make the necessary arrangements.

Later, he denied a report by an online portal accusing him of not allowing Zahid and three other Umno MPs to sit with the independents.

“I strongly deny the news report and would like to state that I’ve never received any request from these MPs. I see the news as a lie and slander towards me,” he said in a statement. – The Vibes, July 27, 2021