All 41 Umno MPs solidly behind party, says sec-gen

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa says none of the party’s MPs wants to jump ship

KUALA LUMPUR: All 41 Umno MPs have declared their loyalty to the party and none has expressed any wish to jump ship, Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa said.

He said the MPs reaffirmed their loyalty to Umno and Barisan Nasional during a meeting with party president and BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last night.

Annuar rubbished claims that Umno MPs who had met with Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali at his official residence last week had wanted to join other parties.

“Not one of them has any ambition to move to a different party, especially not to a party that had lost by 15,000 votes in a by-election,” he said, referring to Pakatan Harapan’s defeat in the recent Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election.

Speaking at a press conference to announce details of the Umno general assembly this evening, he said it would be “very silly” of the MPs to “get into hot soup for nothing” by leaving Umno.

Azmin downplayed the meeting with the 22 Umno MPs, saying it was part of his engagement with the business community as well as MPs to get feedback on government policies.

Those present at the meeting included former Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein.

Asked to comment, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the MPs told Azmin their party has lost direction, and had asked him for advice on whether or not they should join a different party.

“They don’t know what they should do (next). So they asked if they should join another party or not,” Mahathir was quoted as saying.

Annuar said either Mahathir or Azmin could be lying. “There are two possibilities. One, Azmin had falsely reported (the events at the meeting) to Mahathir, or Azmin had given an accurate report but Mahathir had said it was not true.”

Nevertheless, he said, the MPs who were present at the dinner had publicly denied Mahathir’s statement.

He also said that investigations on the MPs by the Umno disciplinary board would be conducted “independently”.

On the Umno general assembly on Dec 4, Annuar said it would focus on amendments to the party constitution.

He said the proposed amendments included making Umno “more open” to other races, ethnic groups and religions, and allowing more autonomy for state branches in Sabah. - FMT