Don't ask us to state our demands, make your offer - Umno man tells Muhyiddin

 

Selangor Umno leader Isham Jalil said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should make an offer on what he has to keep Umno within the ruling coalition instead of asking the party for a set of written demands.

The Selangor BN information chief and former special officer to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said Muhyiddin can make a reasonable offer to Umno if he was serious about staying in power.

"I was informed (yesterday) evening that Bersatu has asked Umno to write a letter to their president Muhyiddin who is also the prime minister to make a request on any demands. In my opinion, this is not helpful.

"If Bersatu is serious about cooperating with Umno and as the prime minister who is in power and need the support of political parties to remain in power, the Bersatu president can present a fair offer to Umno or other political parties to be considered," he said in a statement on Facebook.

Isham said Muhyiddin would know best what he can offer as they are within his power.

"Bersatu does not need to tell Umno to write an official letter to Bersatu or the prime minister to make any request," he said.

He added that there was no need for such formality as the political negotiations are in the initial stage.

"If the negotiations are successful, then a written agreement can be formalised.

"It is a more practical option as a request in a formal letter at this stage will limit the choices (of demands) Umno and other political parties have," he said.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Muhyiddin, through Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, had asked Umno to state its demands in a formal letter.

This came after Umno complained about being sidelined by Bersatu in the government and declared that it was considering quitting Perikatan Nasional, which will lead to its collapse.

Muhyiddin has a fragile majority in the Dewan Rakyat, commanding the support of only 113 out of 222 MPs. The defection of three MPs is enough to bring down his government.

 - Mkini