Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz has called out Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for pushing for Parliament to convene while allegedly ignoring calls for Umno to hold party elections.
Nazri said Zahid's term is supposed to end this month, and fresh elections must be held.
"Zahid wants Parliament to convene as soon as possible. If it leads to the general election, he wants it done quickly.
"But when it comes to party elections, he pretends to be deaf," Nazri told Malaysiakini.
He added that there was no need to pressure Zahid to resign or go on leave as the latter would only be a "caretaker president" once his term expires.
Zahid won the Umno presidency on June 30, 2018. According to Umno's constitution, elections must be held every three years.
The party's supreme council can delay internal polls for 18 months, but has not yet made a decision on the matter.
However, the National Security Council had allegedly blocked Umno from holding elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said a source with knowledge of the council's workings.
This is reportedly because party polls would lead to mass gatherings.
Meanwhile, Nazri was befuddled by Zahid's response that his claim of 25 BN lawmakers losing confidence in the coalition chief, was a "cartoon story".
"I can't reply to him. How do I reply to a comical response?" Nazri asked.
"I just want to say that when you can't rebut someone's points, then you have to make an exit by saying it's comical or a farce.
"To me, he (Zahid) doesn't have a solid argument to rebut me," he added.
Nazri yesterday alleged that 25 out of 42 BN lawmakers had signed a declaration backing Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein as their spokesperson instead of Zahid.
The Padang Rengas MP said he was living proof that this declaration was real, and claimed that some of the other signatories were Umno supreme council members.
He reiterated that the declaration was not meant to back Hishammuddin as prime minister or deputy prime minister.
However, he declined to say who should lead Umno in the next general election, saying this should be decided by party elections instead.
Nazri had turned against Zahid after the latter allegedly tried to align Umno with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
In October last year, Zahid allegedly signed a letter to the king pledging support for Anwar.
Zahid's office claimed the letter was fake, but Nazri and other detractors claim otherwise.
The Padang Rengas MP insists that the Umno president's alleged actions were a serious disciplinary breach which should be investigated by the party's disciplinary committee. - Mkini
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