A purported letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong signed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi supporting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to be prime minister is fake, said a spokesperson from the Umno president's office.
The spokesperson denied the letter's authenticity when contacted by Malaysiakini.
A denial was also issued on Umno's official website.
"Umno strongly denies the viral letter purportedly supporting Anwar as the ninth prime minister," the statement read.
Umno executive secretary Mohd Sumali Reduan said that official Umno letters would not be issued without reference numbers - which the viral letter did not have.
The letter bears the signature of both Zahid and his predecessor Najib Abdul Razak.
Yesterday, MalaysiaNow reported that Najib and Zahid, in a joint letter to the ruler, had indicated that Umno was supporting Anwar.
The portal had cited a high-level Umno source as having divulged the contents of the letter.
Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin, however, was quoted by Astro Awani downplaying the purported letter, calling it mere "speculation".
Anwar had on Sept 23 claimed that he had secured a formidable majority to form the new government.
Hours after the announcement, Zahid issued a statement confirming that many Umno MPs were leaning towards Anwar.
This raised concerns, particularly in DAP, on Anwar possibly working with Zahid who is facing 47 charges of money laundering, corruption and criminal breach of trust.
Anwar has not revealed the list of MPs purportedly backing him but has provided supporting documents to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
However, the monarch will not be calling any party leaders to verify the claim until after the conditional movement control order (MCO) which expires on Oct 27 for Kuala Lumpur where Istana Negara is located.
The conditional MCO was reimplemented after a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Umno had announced that it may quit the Perikatan National administration, which will lead to its collapse if Umno does not get a new deal.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has a fragile majority, controlling only 113 out of the 222 parliamentary seats. The defection of three MPs is enough to topple his government.
Muhyiddin has asked Umno to state its demands in a bid to rescue his government. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.