KUALA LUMPUR – Umno got more than it deserved after its MPs gave their cooperation and agreed to work with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in forming the ruling government, said Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
As such, he said, it would be inappropriate for the party to leave the PN government now, especially when the country is struggling to fight Covid-19 and most pandemic-related matters are being handled by Umno ministers.
“With 38 seats (in Parliament), Umno has a deputy prime minister, senior minister, and 19 ministers and deputy ministers. We have more than we deserve. We used to be the opposition, we cannot be greedy,” he said on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme last night.
Annuar, who is also the MP for Ketereh, also questioned the party’s direction if it were to continue withdrawing its support for the PN government.
“Where are we going? (They) told us to leave the government, but didn’t tell us where to go. We have only 38 seats in Parliament. If we want to form a government, we must have 110 seats. Where can we get the other 90 seats? I don’t want to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan DAP.
“There is indeed some confusion in Umno regarding its cooperation with the PN government,” he said, adding that the party should hold further discussions on the direction of the party.
Annuar said Umno ministers should not withdraw from their huge responsibilities to help the people during this pandemic.
For instance, he said, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba is in charge of health, and Senior Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is in charge of security and matters relating to Covid-19 as a whole.
“Imagine Khairy Jamaluddin, who is in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) and is busy with the vaccination programme, suddenly leaving the government. Would that be appropriate? Is that how we take responsibility?” he asked.
Questioning the ungrateful attitude of some Umno leaders given the responsibility and trust placed on them by the PN government, Annuar said: “I don’t want my future generations to criticise us and say that it all happened because Umno ran from its responsibilities. No. We cannot have that!” he said.
Looking back at the formation of PN government, Annuar said Barisan Nasional made a pledge to support PN without being a member and uniquely, Umno also agreed to the decision based on support from its MPs.
“That was why the decision to support the government was not brought to the party’s Supreme Council. The decision was made by the Umno MPs themselves when they met and signed their statutory declarations. It was something that never happened in our country before,” he said.
Annuar said the PN government was formed to save the country from the failure of the previous government following internal disputes that led to the resignation of the prime minister and political instability in the country.
“To save and to ensure that the country will be administered in a more organised and proper way, we saw a political collaboration by several factions of Bersatu, Umno, PAS and other parties to form the new government with a very thin majority,” he said.
The Umno-PN controversy resurfaced last Tuesday after Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the party’s Supreme Council had decided to withdraw its support for the PN government and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister. – Bernama, August 5, 2021
