KUALA LUMPUR – Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has rubbished a report claiming he has offered himself as the prime ministerial candidate in the event Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin fails in his confidence vote in Parliament next month.
Speaking to The Vibes, the Bagan Datuk MP said the matter has never been considered or even discussed in the party to date, amid chatter within the political sphere over who is likely to next helm Putrajaya’s top seat.
“It (me offering myself) never arose. Mengarut (rubbish). No decision has been made,” he said today.
Asked if Umno will be deliberating on its pick for the prime minister’s position in its upcoming Supreme Council meetings ahead of the vote of confidence next month, Zahid said there is no such plan at the moment.
“We will do it when the time comes; when and if Muhyiddin fails in his vote. For now, nothing,” he said.
Last night, MalaysiaNow quoted two unnamed sources as saying that Zahid, a former deputy prime minister, has nominated himself for the top post should Muhyiddin be toppled.
The report claimed that one of the sources said the Umno president announced the matter to the party’s MPs in a recent closed-door meeting.
The other source said the decision was made due to scepticism that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not be able to dispose of the corruption charges against Zahid even if Umno backs the PKR president.
Muhyiddin had last Wednesday announced that he will put himself through a vote of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat when the lower house reconvenes next month.
This follows the decision of a number of Umno MPs led by Zahid who withdrew their support for the prime minister a day earlier, with the party chief claiming this effectively means Muhyiddin has lost the majority backing of Parliament.
On Monday, Umno made public two letters that were sent to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong with accompanying statutory declarations outlining the stand taken by 14 of its MPs in withdrawing their support for Muhyiddin.
Speculation has emerged on whether Muhyiddin is likely to have enough numbers to remain prime minister, as well over potential candidates that could take over should he fail in the confidence bid.
All Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs are understood to be firmly behind Anwar, who is opposition leader and Port Dickson MP, but with only 88 lawmakers behind him, this number is unlikely to be sufficient.
Even if Anwar is able to convince all other opposition MPs to back him, he would only have the support of 105 of the current 220 parliamentarians, which means that he will need some from the government to switch allegiances.
The Vibes had reported earlier today that Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is now being proposed as the next prime minister should the government collapse.
This is supposedly in an effort to pre-empt the likes of Zahid, party vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and former vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein from having their names put forward for the top job.
A source claimed that, within royal circles, the 84-year-old Kelantan prince is the most acceptable candidate for prime minister. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021
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