Umno veteran Shahrir Samad has brushed off allegations that he was being disloyal towards the Johor palace after his stinging remarks on the state menteri besar crisis.
He said he was a man of his own principles and may or may not disagree with the decisions made by his party as well as the monarchy.
Shahrir (above) had previously said he was ashamed to attend the upcoming Umno general assembly after former Johor menteri besar Hasni Mohammad was not reappointed to serve for the second term.
This prompted critics to ask whether he was questioning Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's decree to appoint a menteri besar.
"I have my own stand when it comes to the relationship between the party (Umno) and the sultan.
“I will not support the party all the time, nor will I support the monarchy all the time,” he said in a statement today.
The former minister said an example would be when he sided Umno during the constitutional crisis when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not consent to the laws passed in Parliament.
He also said he aided in preserving Johor’s heritage when the political party wanted to revoke the Royal Johor Military Force (JMF).
“I supported the party, but when the party wanted to revoke the JMF, I lobbied for then menteri besar Ghani Othman to retract the bill,” he recalled.
Shahrir added that when Umno wanted to sideline the late Sultan Iskandar Sultan Ismail, he helped repair their relationship by bringing the Johor Umno division committee to celebrate Hari Raya with the late ruler.
“So, I am not a ‘royalist’ or hardcore Umno. I have my own principles as a democrat,” he affirmed.
MB post goes to Onn Hafiz
On Monday, the Johor Bahru Umno division chief said he was ashamed that Hasni was not the appointed menteri besar, despite Umno designating him for the post during the election.
Hasni was the incumbent menteri besar and was repeatedly touted by BN as their “poster boy” during the Johor election campaign, which concluded on March 12.
Despite BN winning handsomely, the Benut assemblyperson was not appointed menteri besar.
Instead, Onn Hafiz Ghazi was quietly appointed as Hasni’s successor after reports of a "higher power" disrupting Hasni’s return as menteri besar.
This is despite 38 out of 40 BN assemblypersons in Johor submitting statutory declarations on Monday, supporting Hasni as the sole candidate.
Onn Hafiz, 44, is the grandson of third prime minister Hussein Onn and nephew to former Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein.
He is also linked to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, reportedly receiving a cheque for RM240,000 from Najib in April 2019 which was allegedly used to finance the Malaysian Digest news website.
Najib and Hishammuddin are cousins.
Johor DAP vice-chief Sheikh Omar Ali speculated that Onn Hafiz had backing from Najib leading to worries that Najib’s legacy - corruption and abuse of power - might come back. - Mkini
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