Shahrizat to stay put, Umno seethes

The embattled minister has decided to cling on to her posts and Umno insiders say this will not go down well with the party leadership.

KUALA LUMPUR: Embattled senior federal minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will not quit her posts despite increasing calls for her to resign over the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal.

Umno insiders said the Wanita chief had met with party president and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak two days ago and told him that she would hold on to her posts and was likely to defend that decision at tonight’s supreme council meeting.

It is understood that the women, community and family development minister had also met with top officials from her ministry recently to inform them of her decision.

However, Umno insiders told FMT this decision would not go down well with the majority of the party’s top leadership.

Previously, FMT had reported that there was a concerted effort to force the Wanita chief to resign all her posts to contain the damage.

From influential former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad to her own deputy in Wanita, Kamilia Ibrahim, Shahrizat faced tremendous pressure to call it quits with most of the sentiment indicating their discontent with her “selfishness” – that she would sink Umno for her political survival.

‘Wanita Umno wants her out’

The unequivocal statement by Kamilia that Shahrizat should step down reflected the general feeling of Wanita members, Umno insiders said. But the senator claimed she had the wing’s support.

FMT also learned that no Cabinet members had raised the matter at today’s meeting despite another minister’s incriminating statement against Shahrizat.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Abdul Aziz had said yesterday that NFCorp, the cattle breeding project’s operator, had committed criminal breach of trust when it used part of the RM250 million federal loan for purposes other than the project.

“But we’re not sure if this silence means they agree with her decision to stay put but I’m sure Umno will not take this lightly,” said a high ranking Umno source.

Apart from this, insiders claimed that Shahrizat’s people were going around to gather support for her, including attempting to “convert” Umno leaders who had been vocal in their criticism towards her such as Youth leader Lokman Adam and Cheras division leader Syed Ali Alhabshee.

They claimed that the meeting with Syed Ali had resulted in an altercation and this proved that the critics were adamant about her head rolling.

Shahrizat and her family had been accused of abusing over RM62 million in land, property and expenses unrelated to cattle farming although they denied any wrongdoing.

Her son, Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh, NFCorp’s managing director, defended the move, calling them sound investments during a break in business operations due to the government’s decision to suspend construction of an abattoir. The abattoir would have been rented to NFCorp.

The 2010 Auditor-General’s report did point out that the project would have been better off if the construction of the abattoir had been completed in time.