Umno man confident party will quit PN govt before Aug 1

 

Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi said he is confident that the party will finalise a decision to quit the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government before Aug 1.

This comes amid speculation that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was trying to steer the party out of the ruling coalition but was facing substantial resistance, particularly from the party’s MPs.

“I am confident that the Umno supreme council will convene virtually soon to finalise the Umno General Assembly 2020 decision for the party to withdraw its support for the PN government by Aug 1,” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.

Puad claimed that a majority of Umno supreme council members had decided to “pull the plug” on PN.

However, Zahid is still facing resistance from many Umno MPs who are not part of the supreme council.

Zahid had on June 21 issued a 14-day ultimatum for the PN government to reconvene Parliament.

The move was seen as a means for Zahid to give justification to take Umno out of the coalition government, which had been reluctant to reconvene Parliament.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday announced that Parliament will be reconvened, which was coincidentally the last day of Zahid's deadline.

This had raised questions on whether Zahid would still have an excuse to pull Umno out of the ruling coalition.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

'Plan to quit on course'

However, Puad remains confident that the move to reconvene Parliament won’t affect the party's plan to quit PN. 

“Umno’s reasons are clear. It stems from the government’s failure in various issues, particularly on the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and economy.

“Umno does not want to be entangled in the PN government’s failures. More so, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin does not listen to Umno’s views,” he was quoted as saying.

Zahid was in a flurry of meetings yesterday, purportedly to plan the next move of the party.

Umno MPs also met in Kuala Lumpur last night as the bitterly divided party sought to chart its future direction. - Mkini