NAJIB'S MAR 8 DATE WITH FATE: Show or non-show of support by Umno men to seal his future as PM

Umno division leaders will be meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to show their support and one of them insisted that it has nothing to do with the internal turmoil in the party.

According to Cheras Umno division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee, "there are no fissures in Umno".

Speculation has been rife that Najib is under pressure from certain factions, especially those aligned to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The meeting has been fixed for March 8, a day after the opposition plans to hold a massive rally to call for the prime minister's resignation.

So far, 170 of the 191 Umno divisions have confirmed their attendance.

Syed Ali said the meeting would see the exchange of ideas and information to strengthen Umno and the administration of the nation.

"We are thinking of having such meetings twice a year," he added.

However, he noted there have been various slanderous news in the foreign media regarding Najib but did not elaborate.

"In Umno, there is no split. It is the opposition which raises this issue. They have no other work," he added.

The Cheras Umno division chief also denied that the meeting is related to the speculated rift in the prime minister's family and the controversies surrounding his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

One again, Syed Ali blamed the opposition.

PM Najib

He said after becoming bankrupt of ideas to attack Najib, the opposition shifted its focus to his wife instead.

"What she (Rosmah) wants to do is up to her," he added.

While Syed Ali denied the meeting concerned issues such as the problem-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), another division chief, however, stated otherwise.

"We want to listen to the prime minister explain to us some issues in person.

"We would like to listen to his explanation on many issues raised, like 1MDB, economics and so on," Kinabatangan division’s Bung Moktar Radin told The Star. - M'kini