Set aside egos, join PH govt, Zaid tells Umno-BN

 

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim says Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have given Umno ‘some oxygen to survive’.

PETALING JAYA: Zaid Ibrahim has called on all Umno leaders to put aside their egos and show party discipline by joining forces with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to form the next federal government.

“Anwar Ibrahim, with 82 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, is sure to become prime minister in the next day or so. He has given Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) the honour of joining his government.

“We ought to be grateful to him and to (Umno) party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who has given the party some oxygen to survive,” said the former law minister in a video on Facebook this morning.

He called on party leaders, especially those who are opposed to accepting PH’s offer, to consider carefully Umno’s options.

“It is not easy being in opposition. We have been the opposition in Kelantan for 32 years already. What progress have we made? What have we been able to do as opposition?” he asked.

The reality, he said, is that the party has suffered a “total loss” in several states.

The recently concluded 15th general election saw Umno completely wiped out in seven states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Melaka.

In the face of that, Zaid said, staying in government, even in a more limited role, was Umno’s best chance to save itself from “oblivion”.

He said the present offer to join the government has been made to Umno and BN members who have been elected to Parliament.

“Those who did not contest, were dropped or lost should stay out of the conversation. Do not confuse the issue,” he said.

“Some who have been leaders and ministers appear to be acting in an uncontrollable manner and are behaving like prima donnas.”

Zaid called for party leaders to be mature, and not emotional, in their decision-making.

He said the essence of the anti-hopping law was that parliamentarians must show party discipline by acting in accordance with instructions handed down by the party leader and whip.

“Today, the party leader and whip is Zahid Hamidi,” he said.

He said now was not the time for them to raise grouses about whether Zahid ought to remain president or question party policies.

“Wait two or three months, and thrash it out then,” he said.

Umno’s constitution was amended earlier this year to allow the party to defer its elections to no later than six months after the date of a general election.

“For now, we have an obligation to form the next government. If that government is to be led by Anwar Ibrahim, then that is something we must accept.

“So long as our country remains without a government, our economy will lose billions of ringgit. That is something that we, as responsible leaders, must avoid,” he said.

GE15, which was conducted on Saturday, saw BN garner only 30 seats, trailing far behind PH, which won 82, and Perikatan Nasional, 73.

Shortly after that, PH chairman Anwar invited his BN counterpart to form a unity government. Their combined seats would give them 112 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, just enough to secure a simple majority in the 222-seat lower house.

Several Umno leaders have come out since then to state their objection to joining forces with PH. The most prominent among them to date has been former defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who said yesterday he would rather be sacked than join forces with PH.

PN’s Muhyiddin Yassin is also in talks to form a coalition government. On Sunday, Sarawak’s GPS coalition leader Abang Johari Openg announced that he had met up with the PN chairman and his deputy, Abdul Hadi Awang, to explore the formation of government. The announcement has drawn flak from within GPS.

However, Abang Johari, the Sarawak premier, said this morning that GPS will leave it to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide on who the next prime minister should be.

Istana Negara has told party leaders and heads of coalitions to propose their prime ministerial candidates by 2pm today. - FMT