PETALING JAYA: Umno and the Cabinet were not informed of the memorandum of understanding allegedly signed between the leaders of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Ismail Sabri Yaakob before the formation of the new government last August.
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Contacted by Utusan Malaysia, Umno Supreme Council members and Cabinet members from the party said they were unaware of the agreement allegedly signed between Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail to support Ismail as the prime minister.
The contents of the agreement are said to include the provision of a deputy prime minister’s post to be filled at Bersatu’s discretion.
Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the matter was never brought up or discussed by the Umno Supreme Council. He said he only found out about the alleged memorandum after a copy of it went viral yesterday.
However, he said, the appointment of a deputy prime minister and Cabinet members was the prime minister’s prerogative and, as such, did not need to be discussed within the party. Ismail is one of Umno’s three vice-presidents.
“However, regarding the dissolution of Parliament as contained in the agreement, that should be discussed immediately by Umno’s top five leaders, the Umno Supreme Council and Barisan Nasional,” he said.
“This is not what I am saying. The document clearly mentions the date of the dissolution of Parliament.”
Apart from the deputy prime minister’s post, the agreement allegedly said the newly appointed prime minister must agree to hold talks and reach an understanding with PN before determining when the 14th Parliament’s term would be dissolved.
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It said this would not be later than July 2022 or any date mutually agreed upon.
Asked whether the agreement would negatively affect Umno, Ahmad declined to comment, again stressing that the appointment of Cabinet members was the prime minister’s prerogative.
Umno Supreme Council member Zahidi Zainul Abidin also said he was not aware of the agreement. He said the party only knew of one such agreement – the MoU between Ismail’s government and Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Zahidi, who is also the deputy communications and multimedia minister, said it would be inappropriate to appoint a deputy prime minister now as the 15th general election would be held within a year.
Another Umno Supreme Council member, Razlan Rafii, said the spread of the Ismail-PN memorandum was an attempt to backstab the government. He said Ismail need not bow to Bersatu’s demands.
“We also do not know the authenticity of the document and whether it is true or not,” he said.
“But the fact is it’s causing disunity within Umno.”
Communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa, who is alleged to have witnessed the signing of the agreement, declined to comment.-FMT