KUALA LUMPUR – Umno’s fallout with the Perikatan Nasional government began when some of its leaders became “extremely disappointed” after they were not chosen to be part of the current cabinet, revealed Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
The Federal Territories minister and former Umno secretary-general said the party split into two “clusters” after subordinates were included in the government, while the “big bosses” remained on the outside looking in.
“Once upon a time, when the chips were down, we (Umno) struggled with precise, sharp and unified thinking. We came back strong,” the Ketereh MP said in a Facebook post.
He said that a private meeting was held around August and September, in which Muafakat Nasional had “quietly attempted to overthrow the PN government”, before pledging allegiance to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on October 11.
He added that this led to the “No Anwar, No DAP” decision backed by some senior members.
Annuar said another private meeting was also held on October 17 at a house in Ampang, which involved Umno leaders and Pakatan Harapan members, leading to other talks intended to overthrow the government led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Other reasons for why Umno is not on good terms with Perikatan Nasional is due to the legal woes plaguing party leaders, Annuar said.
Annuar said some of the leaders fighting court battles were upset that the government was not helping them in this respect.
“(Also,) attempts to change the PN government from ‘pulling the rug out from under them’ failed and brought about the emergency proclamation for the pandemic.
“A movement was (also) launched, asking Umno divisions to raise motions rejecting cooperation with Bersatu in the 15th general election, as a strategy for a new front... with the Umno annual general assembly 2020 being the battleground to cancel the original cooperation that was decided on repeatedly by the Supreme Council,” he said.
He added that consequently, these led to the two schools of thought among the leadership and divisions – one geared towards cooperation with PH, and the other continuing to support PN. – The Vibes, March 21, 2021
