The PKR man says Umno went for the middle ground by allowing Dr Akmal Saleh to step down as a Melaka executive councillor while staying on as Umno Youth chief.
Rafizi said Umno went for the middle ground by allowing its youth chief to step down as a Melaka executive councillor while retaining his party post.
He described this as a pragmatic step that balances between the need to maintain stability in the unity government while entertaining the aspirations of the grassroots represented by Akmal.
The Pandan MP believed remaining in government allows Umno to continue shoring up support ahead of the next general election, while simply following Akmal’s “rhythm” would be to its detriment.
“It’s not exactly a win-win situation. Both Umno and Akmal will be ‘hurt’ a little bit. But at least it doesn’t snowball into a crisis that could lead to the party’s collapse.
“So this is why I would say that it looks like Umno manages differences in opinions better than PKR,” he said in the latest episode of his Yang Berhenti Menteri podcast.
On Thursday, Akmal announced he would be stepping down as Melaka executive councillor to “fight DAP to the end”, while stating that he respected Umno’s decision to remain in the unity government.
He also said he would stay on as Umno Youth chief after discussions with party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Melaka Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh, who advised him that “a warrior never deserts his friends”.
Akmal previously urged Umno to withdraw from the unity government and revive its Muafakat Nasional pact with PAS, but Zahid maintained that Umno will back the federal administration until the end of its term.
Akmal later said it was perhaps time to “step aside” after Zahid rejected his call for Umno to leave the government.
Umno Youth secretary Hafiz Ariffin later denied rumours that Akmal was resigning from his party post. - FMT
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