Zahid's Umno to convene on PM candidate as Ismail's bid ruffles feathers

 

The Umno supreme council, of which a majority of members are aligned with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is expected to convene in order to decide on a formal prime ministerial candidate, which the party will put forth.

This comes amid party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob positioning himself as a possible successor to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, who is expected to resign as the prime minister later today.

Umno sources told Malaysiakini that Zahid (above) will convene the meeting today to decide on the prime ministerial candidate, who is supposed to serve on an interim basis.

A party source said Ismail Sabri's attempt to rally support for himself has also not sat well with some within Umno.

"Umno will hold a political bureau and supreme council meeting today to pick an interim prime ministerial candidate.

"This is to ensure that no other quarters act unilaterally and sideline the party during the current political crisis," the source told Malaysiakini.

Zahid was responsible for bringing down Muhyiddin when he and 14 other Umno MPs withdrew their support.

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob

Another 23 Umno MPs, including Ismail, continued to back Muhyiddin but at 100 MPs, Muhyiddin was still 11 short of a simple majority. There are 220 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat and two vacant seats.

While Zahid has the support of a majority of the Umno supreme council members, which allows his decisions to have the formal weight of the party, Ismail Sabri controls a majority of Umno's MPs.

The source said Umno plans to submit three names to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

He added that among the names in the mix, which must be narrowed down to three, include Zahid, Ismail Sabri, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein.

"It is very likely that only three out of the four will be chosen to be submitted to Istana Negara," he said.

The source also confirmed that Ismail Sabri had met with Zahid yesterday. 

"I cannot disclose details of the meeting between Zahid and Ismail Sabri. But what is certain is Ismail Sabri's attempt to gather a written declaration of support (for him to become prime minister) did not sit well with the grassroots.

"Any decision must come from the party. It must be supported by all quarters - this is important," he said.

The deputy prime minister was in a whirlwind of meetings yesterday as he rallied support to succeed Muhyiddin.

Among the MPs who have signed written declarations in support of Ismail Sabri include Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz. -Mkini