No Anwar, no DAP: Hishammuddin skips Seri Pacific meet

KUALA LUMPUR – Amid the excitement at Seri Pacific Hotel here, Barisan Nasional (BN) Sembrong MP Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is conspicuously missing from the top guns’ meeting.

In a Facebook post after 11am, he flatly rejected working with rival Pakatan Harapan (PH).

He said he would rather be sacked by his party Umno than change his stand.

“No Anwar, no DAP. Whoever feels that they can sack me for being true to this, go ahead.”

There are 27 BN leaders at this morning’s gathering, including Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, vice-presidents Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, and MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

In a press conference, Zahid said Jelebu MP Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias and Kuala Pilah MP Datuk Adnan Abu Hassan are unwell.

Earlier, it was reported that PH and BN leaders were meeting as the race to Putrajaya remained open.

Yesterday, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun was ordered to get leaders from the respective coalitions and parties that won the elections to inform Istana Negara of the numbers of seats via alliances that would help form the government.

In a statement, Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah received the official results of the 15th general election from Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh yesterday.

“A name of a Dewan Rakyat member who has secured the support of the Dewan Rakyat members, following the coalition of political parties, is to be presented as a prime minister candidate to Istana Negara by 2pm tomorrow (today),” he said.

The race to Putrajaya remains open as no coalition or party won 112 seats, which is the simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

After the tallying of votes over the weekend, PH and its partners have won 82 seats, followed by PN’s 73, BN (30), GPS (22), GRS (six), Warisan (three), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (one), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (one), and two independents. 

Meanwhile, the election of the Padang Serai seat will be held on December 7 following the sudden death of PH’s candidate and incumbent M. Karupaiya on November 16, three days before polling day. – The Vibes, November 21, 2022