As speculation mounts over another change in government, at least three Umno MPs and two party leaders have stated their stand against supporting any plans backed by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim or those involving the DAP.
Their postings on social media today came not long after a copy of an alleged letter jointly signed by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah went viral.
The letter - supposedly requested by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong from various party leaders to determine support for Anwar - has been dismissed as fake.
Taking to Twitter, Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said he remains steadfast to a previous decision made by the party supreme council to strengthen BN and enhance Muafakat Nasional.
"No DAP! No ties with leaders in cooperation with the DAP like Anwar and Tun M (former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad)," said the Pontian MP.
Alluding to the purported letter, Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein echoed Ahmad Zahid's initial statement that no one could stop any Umno MP from supporting Anwar.
At the same time, Hishammuddin said its contents, if proven to be true, did not represent his own views as an Umno member.
"I would like to clearly state that I don't support Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister. I have been consistent - NO ANWAR, NO DAP," he tweeted.
Through an Instagram post, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin similarly declared his stand against Anwar.
"If the letter is true, I want to categorically state that my party president does not speak for me. I am not supporting Anwar Ibrahim to become PM," he said.
"I hope other Umno MPs will make their positions clear. Let's see then who has the numbers," said Khairy.
Anwar, since first announcing his plans to take down Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional administration, has insisted he has the numbers including from Umno MPs to make up a "strong and convincing" majority.
The actual number of MPs backing Anwar has never been revealed.
Aside from the Umno MPs, party supreme council member Razlan Rafii also raised objections to any "reconciliation" with PN and insisted that Umno's stand, together with PAS, was to support Muhyiddin as prime minister.
He also reminded that the Umno supreme council member had rejected the proposal to form PN when it was mooted by Bersatu several months after forming the government while retaining the support of Umno MPs for Muhyiddin.
"They (Bersatu) worked hard to realise PN in order to protect their own interests, using their influence in government to drag PAS to join PN," he claimed.
Razlan further accused Bersatu of overstepping its boundaries and showing little respect for Umno, including through alleged broken promises made during the recent Sabah elections, leading up to the Umno Political Bureau's announcement that it was considering withdrawing support for PN.
"On support for Anwar, there is no dispute because Umno has made a stand, 'No Anwar, No DAP and No Tun M'," he said in a statement.
Earlier, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki also took to Instagram and shared a photograph taken during a meeting between Zahid and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
Asyraf said he accompanied Zahid to the two-hour meeting where both leaders discussed efforts to strengthen Umno-PAS ties amid alleged attempts to split the two parties.
Other senior Umno leaders including supreme council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman had aired their grouses against PN in recent days while others - seen as more in favour of the ruling coalition including BN secretary-general Annuar Musa - had called for differences to be resolved through a discussion. - Mkini
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