EXCLUSIVE | Umno is facing a major crisis. Its numbers in Parliament have dwindled over the past six months and efforts to strike a deal with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad have not gone in its favour.
This is because Mahathir wants Umno to be dissolved before considering cooperation with the party's top leaders. Umno members are worried that their party might be de-registered.
This bleak scenario prompted one Umno leader, Nazri Abdul Aziz, to reach out to prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.
The Padang Rengas MP detailed his alleged discussion with Anwar during a meeting with Selangor Umno members last night. Malaysiakini has obtained a recording of his speech.
When contacted, Nazri, who is also BN secretary-general, confirmed the recording's contents.
"It is nothing new, it is an open secret that most (Umno MPs) want to be part of the government... there is nothing sinister there," he told Malaysiakini.
Nazri's four requests
In his meeting with Selangor Umno members, Nazri told them he had met Anwar in the second week of the last Parliament sitting.
The former culture and tourism minister said he had asked for four things and Anwar agreed to them. Topping the list was for Umno not to be dissolved.
"Anwar told me, 'Nazri, I will not dissolve Umno. We must be sporting in politics, How can we fight if our opponent is de-registered? We must be gentlemen'," he claimed.
The second request was for Anwar not to harass former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak when he comes to power.
"I told him (Anwar). Whatever wrong he (Najib) has done, charge him. But don't harass him... by imposing bail on him so many times.
"Anwar said, 'I have gone through this (court charges and imprisonment) for 20 years.
"I don't want my enemies to suffer that way, what more my friends. Najib was my deputy (when I was Umno Youth chief), and (Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) was once my 'macai' (lackey)'," Nazri claimed.
Najib is facing dozens of charges over the 1MDB scandal and SRC International issue. Zahid is also facing charges of corruption and money laundering.
Meanwhile, Nazri's third request was for Anwar to restore the “ketua kampung” (village chief) system.
The fourth request was for Umno MPs to receive the same allocation as government MPs so that Umno can "give to the people."
In return, Umno MPs will back Anwar
In exchange for these four requests, Nazri said Umno MPs would support Anwar when he becomes prime minister in "one and a half years".
However, Nazri stressed that the Umno lawmakers would only be government-friendly, and not part of the government administration.
"We don't want to be in the cabinet. It would be difficult for us in the next election if we did.
"We want to contest Bersatu (Amanah, and Warisan) seats, we want out seats back, so we must fight them. So we can't be ministers with them.
"We would only be a bloc that supports government policies which benefit the people," he said.
Meanwhile, Nazri claimed Anwar also told him that with PKR, DAP, and Gabungan Parti Sarawak, the latter would have 110 seats in Parliament.
"So he told me, 'I only need two more. if I add you (Nazri), and you find one more guy that's 112, so I'm the prime minister'," Nazri said.
According to Nazri, Anwar was hinting that he did not need Amanah, Bersatu, or Warisan to form the government.
The former minister stressed that Anwar had told him he would abide by Pakatan Harapan's agreement for him to only succeed Mahathir after two years.
Malaysiakini has reached out to Anwar's office for a response to Nazri's claims.
Nazri explained to Malaysiakini that his speech was only meant to brief the Umno grassroots about current events and the party's future plans.
He also said it was only natural for him to approach Anwar as the future prime minister since the conditions set by Mahathir were "too stiff".
"So what we have to do now, is just to sit and wait (for Anwar to become PM)," he added. - Mkini
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