KUALA LUMPUR - The Umno supreme council is considering to withdraw the party from giving support to the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and shall demand new terms for political cooperation.
Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said this in a statement after the council meeting at the party headquarters in Putra World Trade Centre here this evening.
He said the new terms would have to be agreed upon in writing for implementation "as soon as possible".
He added that Umno will at the same time propose to the Muafakat Nasional (MN) steering committee for the alliance to be registered immediately to be made a legitimate political entity.
Umno’s principal partner in MN is PAS.
The latest move marks a new setback for the PN government headed by prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is president of Bersatu, a key component of PN.
On July 30, Umno president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had announced that the party would not participate formally in PN if it was to be registered. He however did not say that Umno would pull out of the PN government.
It is unclear what the new terms for cooperation mentioned by Ahmad would be.
However, all eyes will be set on whether Umno MPs give their backing to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has claimed that he has majority support of parliamentarians to take over from Muhyiddin to form a new government.
Anwar, the parliamentary opposition leader and Port Dickson MP, had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Tuesday. He later reiterated that he has the backing of more than 120 MPs and that the list of names had been submitted to the palace.
He also said the Agong would be meeting with all heads of political parties in the coming days to get their feedback .
Immediately after, Istana Negara issued a statement to deny Anwar’s claim, saying the opposition leader only gave the number of MPs who purportedly back him but did not provide the list of names.
Meanwhile, leaders of six parties - DAP, PAS, MIC, Umno, Amanah and MCA - are expected to have an audience with the Agong over the next two weeks.
The line-up is in addition to veteran Umno politician and Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who came to Istana Negara for a royal audience to discuss matters related to the current political situation at 2pm on Tuesday.
In his statement, Ahmad also said that while Umno viewed stability as being highly important, economic growth must also be improved.
“Umno will continue to struggle for the interest of the people to ensure that the Covid-19 pandemic is handled effectively by the government and relevant parties for the welfare of our citizens and the nation,” he said.
“Every decision made by Umno is for the benefit of the people, religion, race and nation.”
He also announced that the Umno general assembly will be held on December 19. - The Vibes, October 13, 2020
