KUALA LUMPUR – Just “bulldoze” the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan (PH) by July 31, said Umno leader Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan while claiming that PH first “violated” the agreement when it voted against the Sosma provision last month.
The party’s secretary-general claimed PH needed to back the government’s motion to extend a provision in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), but the opposition did not do so.
He told The Star that there was no need to continue the MoU until the general election, which Umno’s top brass is pushing to be called this year.
Opposition MPs, when voting against the Sosma motion, slammed the government’s move to renew a provision allowing authorities to detain suspects for 28 days without trial under the law.
They warned that it would grant excessive powers to authorities without sufficient oversight by the courts.
Ahmad added that the MoU was signed on the back of the pandemic and aimed to assist the country’s economic recovery.
“Now, we are transitioning to endemicity and our economy is recovering. Based on that, we no longer need MoU 2.0.”
He also accused PH of eyeing access to allocations and being eager to renew the MoU.
On April 17, PKR communication chief Fahmi Fadzil said the MoU does not expire until the dissolution of Parliament, and not on July 31 as claimed by Umno.
He added that the dissolution of Parliament was subject to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s discussion with the cabinet before bringing the matter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
On a separate issue, Ahmad said PAS leaders should have immediately denied the alleged “PAS’ political engagement report” when it started circulating on Wednesday.
The alleged document had claimed that PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who supposedly acted as operators in engaging with leaders of several political parties, had met with Umno’s Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on April 7 at his residence to discuss the general election and possible cooperation.
It also claimed that the meeting with Hishammuddin had concluded that there was no way Umno could hold its party election before the federal polls, and that the only option remaining was to convince Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to be Umno’s poster boy.
The report also alleged that party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak shall not hold any power within Umno, with the promise of being pardoned from their court cases. – The Vibes, April 22, 2022
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