Bersatu council member: We will back Ismail Sabri for PM

 

Bersatu’s 35 MPs have been instructed by party president Muhyiddin Yassin to back Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the next prime minister, according to a supreme council member.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Bersatu supreme council member Eddin Syazlee Shith said the party leadership previously resolved that the president will decide on the choice of prime minister on behalf of the MPs.

“We all agreed that we will support Ismail Sabri. That was the instruction given to us by our president,” said Eddin, who is the Kuala Pilah MP.

All MPs have until 4pm today to inform Istana Negara, in writing, who they support as the ninth prime minister. Muhyiddin resigned on Monday after losing the support of 15 Umno MPs.

Last night, Umno MPs decided that they will back Ismail Sabri for prime minister.

Eddin said apart from choosing a premier, he was not privy to discussions, if any, on how the cabinet would be organised.

Kuala Pilah MP Eddin Syazlee Shith

On the deputy prime minister post, Eddin said he was made to understand that Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin was the likely candidate.

“This is based on hierarchy. Hamzah is our secretary-general,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hamzah’s office denied that the Bersatu secretary-general had issued a statement saying the party would consider a prime minister candidate from among Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties.

Umno is not one of the component parties of the coalition.

On whether former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali - a key figure in the “Sheraton Move” which resulted in the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020 - would be made a minister, Eddin said he had no knowledge of this.

Eddin said he believed that Azmin and his followers were committed to upholding the party’s decision to allow Muhyiddin to have the final say on negotiations with other coalition members.

This was because coalition dynamics were different now compared to the PN era.

“It could be ‘BN plus’. It’s BN and PN now. Bigger,” he added.

 - Mkini