PETALING JAYA: Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has reminded Umno that it was only able to secure the position of the prime minister because of the support given by parties in Perikatan Nasional (PN).
He also told “some Umno leaders” that there was no “big brother” between Umno and Bersatu and both parties enjoyed equal status.
Muhyiddin said even Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had admitted to him that the support by PN had made it possible for him to become the prime minister.
“Ismail told me that Umno was back at the helm not because it had won a majority of seats.
“It was because of the support of PN, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, the United Sabah Party and independent MPs.
“I want to advise certain quarters in Umno, please pay us some respect.
“There is no big brother. We are equals. Jangan mudah lupa diri (Don’t get ahead of yourselves),” he said at Bersatu’s annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.
Muhyiddin was apparently addressing grassroots qualms over Bersatu’s status in the current federal government, as Umno has decided not to cooperate with Bersatu in the coming polls.
Muhyiddin also revealed an earlier undisclosed agreement Umno had entered into with PN.
He said one of the conditions they ahd agreed upon was that Umno could not call for a general election unilaterally.
“We have never revealed this before. So long as the terms are met, we will support them (Umno) until the next general election.
“It is not Umno that decides on the general election — it must be a collective decision by all PN parties,” he said.
Separately, Muhyiddin said he cancelled the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High-Speed Rail (HSR) project when he was prime minister because it would “affect the sovereign rights of Malaysia”.
He said the previous deal under Barisan Nasional had one-sided conditions which would allow Singapore control of the entire HSR project via AssetsCo.
Muhyiddin said without Singapore’s involvement, Malaysia will have full control over the project.
He said it was better to have a rail line from Johor to Bangkok.
“With the HSR cancelled, we have restored the sovereignty of our country.”
Earlier, in his policy speech, Muhyiddin touched on the mindset change among Malays whereby they will no longer blindly support certain political parties.
They will only extend their support if the party meets their aspirations, as they are taxpayers and desire good governance above all, he added. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.