LAUGHING STOCK – NOW UMNO CLAIMS THEY DIDN’T ‘WALKOUT’: IN A SHAMBLES UNDER DE-FACTO LEADER NAJIB, UMNO SAYS ‘WE LEFT PARLIAMENT HALL TO SPEAK TO THE MEDIA’

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa has denied that the party’s MPs had walked out of the Dewan Rakyat to protest Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof’s swearing-in ceremony yesterday.

Instead, he said they had left to address the press.

“We had merely left (the chamber) to speak to the media,” Annuar was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

Annuar added that the party will not be taking disciplinary action against Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar for failing to join his party colleagues in leaving the chamber, as Umno practised an “open policy” towards actions by individual party members.

The Ketereh MP then went on to hint that Khairy had not joined the walkout as he had been absent from the party’s pre-council meeting on Sunday, where a response to the appointment of the Dewan Rakyat speaker had been discussed.

Yesterday, Khairy stayed in his seat as more than 60 Umno and PAS MPs exited the chambers of the Lower House.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the press afterwards that Mohamad Ariff’s appointment had not been proper.

“What the government did in suggesting the speaker’s name did not follow the set procedures,” Zahid had said, adding that he had proof that the new speaker’s name had not been suggested 14 days before the sitting – as per Parliament Standing Orders.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke maintains that the government had followed protocol by submitting Mohamad Ariff’s name on July 2.

‘It’s merely KJ’s opinion’

Annuar also responded to Khairy’s stance that the walkout had tarnished Umno and BN’s image, saying that was Khairy’s “personal view”.

“We respect his view, which is his personal (view).

“Our view is consensual and involves all (BN) component parties,” Annuar was quoted as saying.

Khairy has explained that he had wanted to show respect for the Parliament and to prove BN was a credible opposition. — M’kini

Kit Siang insists Najib is de facto Umno leader

KUALA LUMPUR— Umno’s offer for Tan Sri Apandi Ali and Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to be supreme council members show that Datuk Seri Najib Razak remained firmly in control of the party, claimed DAP’s Lim Kit Siang.

The Iskandar Puteri MP insisted that only Najib would want either the former attorney-general (AG) or the ex-Speaker of Parliament within the ranks of the party’s leadership.

“I believe that if the Umno president, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, had a choice, he would have kept a great distance from both Apandi and Pandikar.

“But Najib is the de facto Umno president, and Zahid, although the Umno president, has to do Najib’s bidding,” Lim purported in a statement today.

Apandi initially accepted the offer for the Umno supreme council post last week, but declined later by saying it would be linked to his previous service as a senior judge and the attorney-general.

He is coincidentally the AG who initially cleared Najib of any wrongdoing related to 1MDB.

The former PM has since been charged over the transfer of RM42 million from a former 1MDB subsidiary.

Pandikar was appointed to the Umno supreme council later, believed to be as a replacement for Apandi.

Lim also repeated today his assertion that Najib continues to hold sway in Umno by virtue of his seating position in Parliament next to Opposition Leader Zahid. – MALAY MAIL

MKINI / MALAY MAIL