Umno grassroots refuse to work with DAP, oppose Nazri's deal

Nazri Abdul Aziz's attempt to strike a deal with prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim to ensure Umno's continued survival has met with opposition from grassroots members, who do not want to work with DAP.

In exchange for sparing Umno from being de-registered, Nazri had proposed that Umno MPs would form a pro-government bloc when Anwar succeeds Dr Mahathir Mohamad sometime in 2020.

Nazri had outlined his plan during a meeting with Selangor Umno members last night, and a recording of what transpired indicated that not all were receptive.

Malaysiakini has verified the recording as authentic.

During a question-and-answer session, a member who identified himself as Ampang Umno Youth chief Zulkifli Rajalie told Nazri that the grassroots do not want to work with DAP.

"Umno people jump at the mention of an Umno-PKR-DAP cooperation. Can Umno accept working with DAP?" he asked, to which the crowd responded with a resounding "No".

Zulkifli said that working with DAP could lead to Umno losing the trust of the Malays.

"The people's voice must be heard, the voices at the anti-Icerd rally must be heard, we want Muslims to unite," he added.

Reform Umno and leadership instead

Zulkifli said Umno Youth would prefer to see the party and its leadership reformed instead of rushing to become part of the government.

Responding to this, Nazri, who is also BN secretary-general, told the audience that Umno would be working with Anwar, and not DAP.

"We are weak as the opposition, we can't make demands of people," he pointed out.

Citing Mahathir, the former minister said the person who once taught Umno to hate DAP became prime minister for a second time by working with DAP.

Earlier in his speech, Nazri said there should not be problems between Umno and DAP since the latter does not contest in Malay areas.

According to Nazri, the ideal scenario for the next election would be Umno contesting in Malay seats and PKR in mixed seats.

As for non-Malay seats, he said, it did not matter if DAP, MCA or Gerakan contested them.

'A crack waiting to split open'

Meanwhile, former Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Razlan Rafii criticised the horse-trading going on in Umno whether by Nazri or others.

"They are all being used by Pakatan Harapan.

"Umno president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) appears unable to control the pro-Mahathir and pro-Anwar factions.

"They are peddling all sorts of stories, and I don't see this heading in a positive direction, it is like a crack waiting to split wide open," he said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

Yesterday, Umno sources accused former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein of masterminding mass defections following the exodus of more than a dozen Sabah Umno lawmakers.

Hishammuddin has denied this.

Following this, photographs of a meeting between Mahathir and senior Umno leaders, including its deputy president Mohamad Hasan, went viral on social media.

It was later clarified that the meeting took place in October while Mohamad told Malaysiakini that the Umno leaders met the prime minister to appeal to him not to dissolve their party. - Mkini