No one is leaving the govt

 

PETALING JAYA: Ministers and deputy ministers from Umno will not resign en masse from Perikatan Nasional for now, it was revealed.

The ministers concerned said they had informed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of this during a meeting on Monday, adding that they had pledged to stay on in their relevant ministries.

Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa (pic) said that all nine Umno ministers met with Muhyiddin on March 29 following the Umno general assembly held over the weekend.

The party has eight deputy ministers.

“Ministers and deputy ministers from Umno will abide by the resolution made during the last supreme council meeting, which is to be part of the Perikatan government until the dissolution of Parliament, ” Annuar Musa said when contacted yesterday.

According to the last supreme council meeting held in Janda Baik on Feb 19, the written resolution stated that there will be no cooperation between Umno and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in the next general election and that Umno will only cooperate with Perikatan until the dissolution of Parliament.

On Sunday, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stated in his speech at the Umno general assembly that all Umno ministers should resign when the supreme council decided to cut off its cooperation with Bersatu and end its participation in the Perikatan government.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad, when contacted, said she would follow the order of the party.

Checks with other ministers who attended the meeting with Muhyiddin showed their inclination not to resign en masse.

Another minister, who declined to be named, said the speech of the Umno president was “not binding”.

“During the Umno AGM and supreme council meeting, it was decided that Umno will support the Perikatan government until Parliament is dissolved.

“This resolution was not amended at the Umno general assembly, ” the minister said.

“Whatever said by Ahmad Zahid on Sunday – be it to support the Perikatan government until August or leave Perikatan immediately – is just a speech, it is not binding upon us as Umno members.

“Only the resolutions are binding, not even the president’s speech, ” said the minister.

Another Umno minister said it was not right to direct the party’s ministers to resign en masse without a resolution from the Umno general assembly.

“To suddenly spring this upon us and say be ready to quit is not fair to the people as the government has to function and we have many things in plan for the people’s well-being, especially in this pandemic and economic recovery, ” said the minister.

A source said what was conveyed to the Prime Minister by the Umno ministers during their meeting would be conveyed to the Bersatu political bureau.

“Bersatu will then decide how to respond to Umno, after what Ahmad Zahid said, as he has attacked Bersatu openly at the Umno general assembly and we need to defend our honour.

“We need to look again at how we should work with Umno as a party in the government as this kind of threat to pull out ministers at any time is akin to destabilising Perikatan, ” said the source.

The Cabinet, which will meet today, is expected to hear from Umno’s ministers on where they stand on Ahmad Zahid’s call for them to resign. - Star