Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has reminded Bera MP Ismail Sabri Yaakob that he must abide by the titah (instruction) of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to forge a cabinet of consensus and broad unity to address the Covid-19 pandemic, if he becomes the new premier.
Asyraf said that he had stressed in the Umno supreme council meeting last night that whoever is nominated as the BN/Umno candidate for prime minister, cannot bind himself to any agreement to maintain the structure of the previous PN government and cabinet.
"The candidate must also abide by the titah of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong to create a cabinet capable of translating the consensus and unity of all political parties in the period to address Covid-19, manage the people's welfare and national recovery agenda, before the time is right for the next general election to be held," he said in a statement today.
Asyraf (above) said that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who shared the essence of the king's instruction, repeatedly stressed in the session before party leaders yesterday that they must find a solution under which - the winner does not win all and the loser does not lose all.
"There is a wise reason why the king ordered a vote of confidence to be held in Parliament to legitimise the position of the prime minister, after being named by His Majesty," he added.
Two days ago, Asyraf called for a wartime unity government to be led by a "non-controversial, unthreatening individual" with no long-term designs on building a political power base.
He did not name a specific individual that would meet such criteria but did indicate that any interim prime minister should have a limited mandate related to the country's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
His description would seem to favour a compromise candidate such as Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah rather than Ismail Sabri, who was announced as the party's prime ministerial candidate last night by Umno leaders and also endorsed by BN.
With the backing of all 42 Umno and BN MPs, Ismail Sabri is on course to become the next prime minister with 115 MPs on his side barring any last-minute changes.
This came after Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister on Monday, and the Agong ordered all MPs to submit their choice of prime minister by 4pm today to fill his vacancy.
The Star reported today that the Malay rulers will convene on Friday where the king is most likely to share the decision of the 220 MPs in choosing the prime minister.
Muhyiddin had previously stressed he will not work with “kleptocrats” during his resignation address on television.
It is understood that he was referring to several Umno leaders including Zahid and former premier Najib Abdul Razak, who are involved in corruption cases, and were instrumental in leading 15 Umno MPs to withdraw support for Muhyiddin, forcing his resignation.
- Mkini
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