PETALING JAYA: It is an “open secret” that Umno will withdraw its support for PPBM and leave the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, Umno Supreme Council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi said.
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However, he said this would only be finalised at the party’s general assembly in March, which would discuss the issue of most of Umno’s 191 divisions saying they did not wish to cooperate with PPBM in the next general election (GE15).
“Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should understand that the decision has already been made. It is just not official yet,” he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insight.
Puad said the party’s grassroots were not happy with PN as the government had appointed village chiefs that were unwilling to cooperate with Umno’s local leaders.
He said several Umno Supreme Council members were against breaking ties with PPBM, but this was because some of them were part of the Cabinet.
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Umno, he said, was “bound to die a slow death” if it stayed in the current government, which he claimed was “politically dishonest and would stab (Umno) in the back”.
Commenting on Umno’s plans for GE15, Puad said the party would continue to contest all the seats it had previously won, including those of candidates who had defected to PPBM.
“Umno tried to avoid clashes with its allies in Sabah, but these people sponsored independents to disrupt our seats and caused our candidates to lose,” he said.
Umno’s AGM, which had originally been scheduled to take place late last year, was postponed to Jan 30 and 31 because of the pandemic before being put off again. It will now take place on the weekend of March 27 and 28.
A decision at the AGM to withdraw support for PPBM would lead to the collapse of the PN government.- FMT