Anti-Mukhriz Kedah leaders to meet Najib today

Kedah Umno leaders are set to discuss their declaration of no confidence in Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir when they meet the party president today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, January 22, 2016.

Kedah Umno leaders who want Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir out are expected to meet the party president this afternoon, Berita Harian reported

The paper said the state party leaders will meet Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the prime minister, at the Umno headquarters at Menara Datuk Onn in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, to discuss their loss of confidence in Mukhriz.

Kedah Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah confirmed the meeting to Berita Harian.

The Malay daily said besides state division chiefs, Kedah lawmakers and exco members will also be present.

Quoting a party source, it said only 14 division chiefs have been invited to the meeting and Muhkriz, who heads the Jerlun Umno division, is not included in the list.

The source said today's meeting with Najib is meant to follow on developments at the press conference called by Bashah two days ago in Kedah, where he said division chiefs had lost confidence in Mukhriz's leadership and wanted him out as state Umno liaison chief and menteri besar.

Bashah said Mukhriz, the son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had failed to unite the party and its machinery in the state, and had failed to provide strategies for the next general election.

Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir with supporters at a gathering in Jerlun, Kedah, last night. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, January 22, 2016.Mukhriz has hit back at his critics, saying the reasons given for the revolt have no basis, and suggested that he was being targeted for being vocal on certain government policies and leadership reform.

Some analysts also view the open rebellion as a proxy war between Najib and Dr Mahathir, who has been the prime minister's arch critic for more than a year now over alleged financial scandals and government policies.

Mukhriz has not openly taken on the controversies surrounding Najib, but is seen to be supportive of the prime minister's critics, such as sacked deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mukhriz was seen in a video clip recorded last July after Muhyiddin's dismissal from the Cabinet, in which the latter recounted how Najib privately admitted to having RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts.

It is not clear, however, if Kedah Umno is united in wanting Mukhriz out.

Kedah Wanita Umno chief Datuk Maznah Hamid said she was told to attend a party briefing only to discover that it was the press conference by Bashah, where she was made to stand with other leaders to show they supported the call against Mukhriz.

She said she had no clue the topic would be to call for his removal.

- TMI