Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii has denied a viral message that the party is seeking the dissolution of Parliament, as has a minister's aide.
Razlan (above) told Malaysiakini that the message is fake.
The viral message consists of a Whatsapp chat screenshot, in which Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob allegedly informed division leaders that Umno ministers would be pushing for dissolution in today's cabinet meeting.
Ismail has yet to respond to Malaysiakini's queries regarding the matter.
However, his aide similarly told Astro Awani that the message is fake, and was meant to hurt Umno's image.
“Umno and the leadership do not agree with snap polls during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is not Ismail Sabri's conversation," the aide said.
Similarly, Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin and Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz both denied any knowledge of a plan to push for Parliament to be dissolved.
“The people don’t want (Parliament) to be dissolved,” Khalid told Malaysiakini.
Meanwhile, Nazri said this is not the right time to dissolve Parliament.
“No (it’s not the right time). We have to be careful. Priority should be given to fighting Covid-19,” he added.
Umno’s supreme council will be meeting tonight.
Yesterday, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, after consulting the other Malay rulers, turned down Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's proposal for a state of emergency to be declared.
On the same note, His Majesty rebuked MPs who were politicking and asked them not to proceed with any action that could threaten the stability of the government.
Proponents of the emergency declaration, which would also see the proroguing of Parliament, argued that it was crucial in order to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, which has worsened since last month's Sabah polls.
However, critics claimed that the premier was attempting to cling on to power amid fears that rebels within his government could turn on him during the Budget 2021 vote next month. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.