Despite apology, Umno continues to pile pressure on minister

Umno continued to pile pressure on Rural Development Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad over his remark about politics in Sabah.

Umno Online uploaded two articles yesterday targeted at the Bersatu minister, suggesting that the party aimed to finish off his career as the Mersing MP.

This came even after Abdul Latiff, who won the seat on an Umno ticket in 2018, apologised for saying that Umno was unpopular in Sabah.

One of the articles featured an open letter by Mersing Umno division chief Mohd Youzaimi Yusof who used to serve as Abdul Latiff's special officer.

In his letter, Youzaimi panned the remarks of his former boss and called for Abdul Latiff to resign as an MP.

"As what you have said in your speech in Tenggaroh 03 in front of Umno members two years ago, (you said) you would resign as Mersing MP first if you were to defect. So now you should do what you promised," Youzaimi said, as quoted by Umno Online.

The Umno leader had posted on his Facebook account the open letter to Abdul Latiff.

Youzaimi added that Umno is a party that is not up for sale unlike "parliamentarians like you who can go here and there for self-interest."

In another article, Umno Online carried a statement by Sabah Umno communications director Ghazalie Ansing who called for the minister to issue an open apology to all members of the party.

Sabah Umno was also said to have rejected Abdul Latiff's apology which Ghazalie described as a "lie".

"The remarks made by this minister was a verbal statement and not a written statement which can be misinterpreted," he said.

Previously, during a livestream talk at Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) on Tuesday, Abdul Latiff said that Umno was not popular in Sabah while commenting on how changing political parties was a norm in the state.

He later apologised for his remarks after he was bombarded with criticisms from Umno leaders.

Mounting calls for Bersatu members to rejoin Umno

Meanwhile, two Perak Umno leaders have refreshed calls for Bersatu and its president Muhyiddin Yassin to rejoin Umno.

Umno Supreme Council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said many Umno leaders want Muhyiddin to rejoin the party and claimed that they would continue to support him as the prime minister.

Tajuddin was quoted by Sinar Harian Online saying that Muhyiddin should rejoin the party to ensure stability in the country's politics.

"We want him to return as he is also a former Umno leader. So, he can return.

"He will fit (in Umno), and we give assurance that when he rejoins us, we will support him (as Prime Minister). And after him, any Umno leader can take over, and we will support them too," he said.

Meanwhile, Perak Umno chief Saarani Mohamad called for Bersatu to disband and all its members to rejoin Umno.

Quoted by Sinar Harian Online, he said that such a move was not unprecedented as it had been done after Semangat 46 disbanded in 1996.

"If Bersatu members have big hearts, and they are also facing problems (in the party), their party is a small organisation so they can disband Bersatu and all their members can come to join Umno," he said.

However, according to Saarani, Bersatu members who rejoined Umno should not be allowed to hold any position until they win in a party election. - Mkini