Accept candidates chosen by PN, Muhyiddin tells members

 

Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin at the PN election convention today.

PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said members must accept the election candidates named by the coalition.

Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president, said there were many qualified candidates who had been vetted by the leadership, especially in Selangor.

“We have made a decision and it is incumbent (upon the members) to accept the candidate. Do you agree?” he said to shouts of “yes” at the PN election convention here this evening.

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He called on those who felt that they were likely to be in the running to begin preparations now. “Two weeks of campaigning is not enough, so start now,” he said.

Muhyiddin also took a swipe at the unity government, saying that DAP’s Tony Pua’s outburst last night against Barisan Nasional, Umno and Bersatu was proof that there was no unity in the ruling coalition government.

Speaking at a DAP fundraising dinner last night, Pua had said Pakatan Harapan supporters must prove that “a multiracial party that is clean and not corrupt” could do better “than corrupt coalitions (sic) like Barisan Nasional, Umno and Bersatu”.

Muhyiddin said that ministers had been uneasy with each other while in Parliament. “Usually when someone is a minister they are happy, but now it looks like there is no passion.”

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s personal agenda

Muhyiddin accused Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of having a personal agenda in agreeing to work with DAP, after decades of mutual hostility.

Muhyiddin, who is a former prime minister, accused Zahid of seeking to free himself of court charges when he decided to team up with DAP as coalition partners in the Anwar Ibrahim unity government.

“Back then, when talking about DAP, nothing good was said. But today, their stance has changed. Why? Because Zahid wants to free himself from his charges,” he said.

He said Umno-DAP cooperation had caused several Umno members to leave the party. “Some have openly declared their support for PN,” he said. “There are others still in Umno who are supporting PN from within.”

Muhyiddin said he believed “many more Umno members” would leave the party to support PN. - FMT