BOMBSHELL – ZAHID SIGNALS MUHYIDDIN’S DOOM: AS EXPECTED, ZAHID & NAJIB RESERVE THE LAST LAP OF NEGO WITH UNDER-SIEGE PM8 FOR THEIR OWN ‘FREEDOM’ FROM CHARGES – ZAHID MAKES IT OFFICIAL UMNO NOT PART OF PERIKATAN & ITS MPs CAN WITHDRAW ANYTIME WHILE THE PARTY WILL ONLY PARTNER BN & PAS IN GE15 – EVEN AS HE TELLS UMNO WARLORDS NOT TO PRESS FOR MORE POSTS AS THEY ARE NOT DOMINANT IN PERIKATAN

Umno president Zahid Hamidi said his party’s position in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) is an arrangement where its MPs provide support for the current coalition government but it is open to taking it to the next level in the future.

“Umno and the supreme council’s decision is to support PN through Umno MPs.

“However, we have never closed the door on future negotiations on our position in PN.

“We also do not prevent any political parties from becoming a component of PN,” Zahid (above) said in an interview last night in conjunction with Umno’s 74th anniversary.

Last Thursday, Malaysiakini reported that the Umno supreme council had rejected a proposal for Umno to formally join PN as a registered component party.

“There are a number of issues we need to resolve,” he said.

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hassan previously said PN was nothing more than an arrangement to form the new government until the next general election.

He said Umno political allies that it will face the next general election with are BN and PAS.

Zahid, in the interview, said while Umno’s alliance with PAS under Muafakat Nasional is not formally registered, but the spirit of cooperation is strong.

“This is the new political reality in the country. We vow to strengthen Muafakat Nasional,” he said.

Zahid said Umno initially wanted a dissolution of Parliament when the Pakatan Harapan government collapsed but is now supporting the PN government to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Harapan government collapsed in late February after Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin took his party out of the coalition and joined forces with a group of PKR defectors led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

Together with Umno, PAS, GPS and other minor parties, they formed the new PN federal government.

Zahid attributed the fall of Harapan to the prayers of those who were suffering from Harapan’s “oppressive” policies coming true. MKINI

Zahid: Umno can’t pressure for more posts as it isn’t dominant in PN

Umno president Zahid Hamidi said his party is not in a position to demand the most government appointments as it is not in a dominant position in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

He conceded that there were some in the party who still possessed the mentality that Umno was still dominant like in the previous BN government.

“There are some so-called eminent persons (in Umno)… the main players think that the party should be given many important ministerial positions.

“As party president, I also feel the same but the reality is that we are not a dominant party leading the government. We have to accept that reality.

“There is a mentality that we are leading the government like in the previous BN government but we are only one part of PN even though we, along with our Muafakat Nasional (PAS) partner, contribute a significant number of seats.

“So don’t blame the people who make the decision or pressure leaders to pursue what we should get,” he said in an interview aired on Facebook in conjunction with Umno’s 74th anniversary.

Zahid said he rose to the position of Umno president at a time of crisis when the party lost power for the first time in 61 years.

The Bagan Datuk MP likened the challenges he faced to being hit by a “barrage of spears”.

“Many people did not understand how difficult the situation was,” he said.

However, Zahid said he managed to cope with the crisis due to his personal experience of going through similar tough times when he was detained without trial under the now-defunct Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1998.

He said even though the Pakatan Harapan government only lasted for less than two years, it was a trying time for Umno as efforts were made to unravel the party.

“There were those trying to break Umno from outside and from within,” he said.

He added that while Umno is now part of the PN government which replaced Harapan, it could still be tested.

“We have only been with the new government for two months. We will continue to be tested and attacked from outside if we are not united from within,” he said.

The Harapan government collapsed in late February after Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin took his party out of the coalition and joined forces with a group of PKR defectors led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

Together with Umno, PAS, GPS and other minor parties, they formed the new PN federal government. – MKINI

MKINI