Party polls can create division at GE15, says Tok Mat

 

Mohamad Hasan says now is the time for a general election, but Umno does not want to put pressure on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan says party elections could create divisions at a time when the general election (GE15) is at hand.

“We do not want the party to be divided or face a power struggle before GE15,” he said at a press conference after attending the Umno Aspirations Discourse at Menara Dato Onn.

“Imagine if after the party elections, many youths lose at the branch level. We will be in disorder and there will be no time to complete the (general election) machinery.”

Mohamad, who is also known as Tok Mat, had said during the Umno General Assembly in March that it had approved a motion to postpone the party elections to six months after GE15.

There has been speculation that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s camp in Umno may want party polls to be held first as a way to replace Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with Ismail as president.

Mohamad said that while he felt that “now” was the most suitable time for the general election, Umno had no intention of putting pressure on Ismail to hold it.

“He (Ismail) can use his own discretion or maybe we will wait until the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the opposition expires on July 31. After that, we can discuss it,” he said.

Previously, other senior members from Umno had also called for GE15 to be held after the expiry of the MoU.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin said the Supreme Council had decided the MoU between the Ismail government and Pakatan Harapan would not be extended after it ends in July.

Mohamad also said he was eager to hear tomorrow’s debate between former prime minister Najib Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Asked if there was any advice he would like to give the two leaders, he said he had none.

“I also want to listen. I am in no position to advise either of them,” he said.

He also said Umno veterans’ proposal for Muafakat Nasional (MN) to be officially dissolved would be discussed by the party first.

“My advice is for the party to decide. The president (Zahid) has given his opinion. We will discuss this in the political bureau meeting and the Supreme Council,” he said. - FMT