Umno submitted candidate for Dewan Negara presidency - source

Umno has allegedly submitted its own candidate as the next Dewan Negara president in what appeared to be a move going against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's nomination of senator Rais Yatim for the post.

A source said the Malay-based party nominated its senator and Malacca Umno deputy chief Mohamad Ali Mohamad to replace SA Vigneswaran as the new Dewan Negara president.

The move is expected to draw attention to the upper House which will see senators deciding on the new presidential candidate when its sitting commences tomorrow.

The source said Umno had submitted its candidate in a last-minute move, two days before Sept 2 sitting.

"On Aug 31, an Umno senator proposed the name of Mohamad Ali Mohamad to replace SA Vigneswara," the person told Malaysiakini.

According to the source, Mohamad Ali was the fourth candidate submitted by parties for the Senate presidency.

Muhyiddin nominated Rais in mid-August, added the source.

Learning from the incident on how Dewan Rakyat speaker was replaced on July 13, the opposition parties also submitted their own candidates for the post.

PKR senator Ahmad Azam Hamzah has nominated Yusmadi Yusoff while Warisan senator Theodore Douglas Lind was nominated by independent senator Marzuki Yahya who is affiliated with Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Pejuang.

The source added that at first, it did not seem to be a problem for the ruling parties to accept Rais as their candidate; however, his political journey as the former deputy president of the defunct Semangat 46, an Umno's splinter party, was deemed unacceptable in the end.

"Rais has become a common enemy for many parties. Rais, together with other leaders, joined Umno, but he left the party for Bersatu," said the source.

When contacted, Muhamad Ali said he knew that he was being nominated to fill the vacancy in Dewan Negara.

"But I am not sure if my name indeed had been submitted to Dewan Negara for consideration," he said.

On Aug 28, opposition senators urged the Perikatan Nasional government to reconsider its plan to appoint Rais as Dewan Negara president. - Mkini