KUALA LUMPUR – Hitting back at jibes about having initially withdrawn support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Umno’s Padang Rengas MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has now revealed that he had been prompted to do so by two party leaders.
He specifically named ex-Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and also his successor Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Speaking to The Vibes, the former minister claimed that they had given him false assurances that induced him to publicly retract his backing for Muhyiddin, who leads the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, in January.
He said that he was then promised that more Umno MPs would follow suit in disavowing support for Muhyiddin.
Nazri, who had in early July returned his support for Muhyiddin’s administration, said this is in response to former prime minister Najib accusing him of being known for inconsistencies in his stand.
In explaining his decision then, he had said that he had been “lied to” by Zahid.
His latest remark today comes amid a war of words between him and Najib, who is now Barisan Nasional (BN) adviser, as the crisis in Umno shows no sign of receding.
“I withdrew support in January because that was what was told to me by them (Najib and Zahid). They said we (Umno MPs) would be withdrawing one by one,” he said today.
“I’ve done my part (by withdrawing at that time). Why didn’t he (Najib)?
“Because he does not have the guts. And now when Umno officially withdraws backing for the government, he has the cheek to say that to me.
“We had planned this long ago, but he has no guts,” Nazri said.
He added that his decision to pledge his support again for PN was based on a resolution made by Umno’s general assembly in March that the party would only back out ahead of the general election.
So, tell me, who is the one flip-flopping?”
Last night, Najib had said that the public ought to gauge Nazri by his past statements, providing several examples of Nazri’s supposed inconsistencies, including when he pulled support for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He also noted how Nazri had openly supported Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 2018 during the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election, going as far as saying that he would campaign for the PKR president.
This comes after Nazri had yesterday labelled Najib a b****** for reneging on an earlier agreement by 40 BN MPs to back the PN government, even if they do not support Muhyiddin. Nazri also described the other Umno MPs who backed away as “bloody liars”.
Explaining his support for Anwar in 2018, Nazri said he did so thinking that the opposition leader would deregister Umno once he took the helm from ex-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the short-lived Pakatan Harapan era.
He felt that if he supported Anwar, he could deter any move to deregister Umno.
Nazri added that the reason he had charged at Najib yesterday was because the latter had disrespected Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when he made light of the Umno vice-president’s initial claim about having 40 BN MPs supporting the PN government.
On Thursday, during a press conference, Ismail Sabri revealed that only 31 MPs from the coalition are now behind the Muhyiddin-led administration.
“I attacked him because he does not show any respect towards the deputy prime minister. Who the hell does he think he is?
“If you want respect, you need to earn it. If he doesn’t respect Ismail, then he doesn’t deserve to be treated with respect. That was why I came out with a very strong and harsh statement against him.” – The Vibes, August 8, 2021
