Kelantan Umno to back national leadership's decision on Perak

 

Kelantan Umno said it would back any decision made by the party's national leadership on the ongoing efforts to set up a new government in Perak.

"Kelantan Umno will support any decision by the president or the supreme council because we respect the hierarchy," Kelantan Umno said in a statement today.

This statement was issued amid intense speculation that Umno was contemplating forming the Perak state government with its rivals Pakatan Harapan.

So far, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has not discounted this possibility.

The Umno supreme council - the party's executive body - is expected to discuss the matter tonight.

Should an agreement be reached on a team-up with the Harapan members, it would represent a major breakthrough in Malaysian politics as Umno has been rivals with Harapan component parties for decades.

The vacancy for the Perak menteri besar post was triggered by a confidence motion brought by an Umno lawmaker. This resulted in Ahmad Faizal Azumu - the Bersatu deputy president - being ousted.

Bersatu is the leader of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, which is allied with the BN coalition that Umno leads.

This episode has called into question whether the PN-BN alliance was still intact in Perak and at the national level. - Mkini