Ismail Sabri to stump for Zahid in Bagan Datuk at solidarity event

Umno's two rival camps look set to bury the hatchet with caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob scheduled to stump for Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the latter's home base today.

The two faction leaders, once divided over various matters including when to dissolve Parliament, will be sharing the stage today at a "solidarity, stability, and prosperity" event at the Bagan Datuk Umno complex in Perak.

Zahid and Ismail Sabri had led factions commonly referred to as the "court" and "ministers" clusters.

This was in reference to the corruption cases that Zahid and his followers are facing, while Ismail Sabri’s team members were mostly those in government.

Fissures started to emerge when Zahid moved to oust Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister in 2021.

Zahid's team had withdrawn support for Muhyiddin while Ismail Sabri led 31 BN MPs in publicly rejecting the move.

However, Zahid's team succeeded in their efforts - which in turn led to Ismail Sabri becoming prime minister.

It marked the first time that a BN-led government was not headed by the president of Umno, with Ismail Sabri being the party’s vice-president.

Caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob

Ismail Sabri still the poster boy?

Despite both men denying that there was any friction within the party, observers noted that the divide between them continued to become wider after Ismail Sabri took over Putrajaya.

This includes an incident where Umno delegates booed every time Zahid mentioned the prime minister during a special briefing after Najib Abdul Razak was jailed.

Zahid was also instrumental in pressuring Ismail Sabri to dissolve Parliament this year, instead of the following year.

However, with the general election approaching, both camps are keen to publicly put up a united front for Umno.

The Umno president even announced yesterday that Ismail Sabri will be BN's poster boy and their prime minister candidate.

However, observers said this is not guaranteed.

They point to the Johor state polls where Hasni Mohamad was BN's poster boy and menteri besar candidate, only to be replaced after the election by Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Zahid's announcement that 70 percent of BN candidates will be fresh faces also raised questions about whether Ismail Sabri's supporters will be axed in favour of those aligned to the party president.

BN is expected to reveal its candidates in a few days’ time. - Mkini