After deputy's prodding, Zahid promises pow-wow

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has promised a "comprehensive post-mortem" report which would be discussed by the party's leadership.

This followed prodding by his deputy Mohamad Hasan, who complained about the party's auxiliary position in the new Sabah government.

"The party's direction after the Sabah elections will be discussed at the political bureau and brought to the supreme council.

"This is an important matter. It is not appropriate for me to speak or make decisions without consensus," he said.

Zahid's decision to use the term "post-mortem" was indicative of his personal unhappiness with the arrangement in Sabah, which saw the party failing to secure the chief minister position in Sabah.

This was despite Umno being the party with the most legislative assembly seats within the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) alliance.

Tense negotiations within GRS resulted in the chief ministership going to Bersatu - an Umno splinter party.

In a statement earlier today, Mohamad claimed that party members were unhappy with the arrangement in Sabah and thus they were looking to Zahid for guidance and a clear direction.

He warned that if Umno were to continue to give up on its strongholds, like in Sabah, then the party's influence would continue to wane.

Bersatu fielded seven incumbent lawmakers during the Sabah election last Saturday. All seven previously won their seats during the 2018 election on a BN-Umno ticket. - Mkini