PAS claims mutiny in Umno

Mustafa claimed Umno was seeking to jettison Najib and Rosmah (both seated) to avoid disaster at the ballot box. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — PAS claimed today of a huge uprising within Umno to oust Datuk Seri Najib Razak amid fears that the prime minister and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor would cost Barisan Nasional (BN) its hold on Putrajaya in the coming polls.

But the Islamist party claimed that Najib was fully aware of this movement and has refused to step down as he is determined to lead BN into the polls, expected to be held in coming months.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali told a press conference here today that this was the reason Umno had purportedly “engineered” rumours that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have been courting Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to replace Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as opposition leader.

Mustafa would not say if the anti-Najib movement was led by the latter’s deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, but claimed that he had received the information from reliable sources.

He added that the movement was significant, involves leaders from the upper echelons of the ruling party and would rear its head soon.

“They feel that Najib-Rosmah has become a liability to BN and they want him to step down because they fear this will affect their performance in the coming elections,” he said.

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