UMNO Moots Severing Ties With Bersatu And Pushing For An Election Before April
In response, Bersatu said the 15th General Election (GE15) should only be held after the COVID-19 outbreak in the country is under control.
UMNO, which held its supreme council meeting last night, 6 January, is considering to sever ties with Bersatu in the upcoming General Election
The party will be holding its annual general assembly on 31 January to decide important matters concerning the party's future.
Among the motions that will be raised, UMNO party information chief Shahril Hamdan said the party will decide whether to push for the 15th General Election (GE15) before the end of the first quarter in 2021.
The annual general assembly will also discuss the decision to strengthen its relationship with PAS through the Muafakat Nasional pact.
"The meeting has gone through all the motions proposed by the 189 divisions nationwide," read the party's statement published last night.
"The supreme council meeting has agreed to raise these motions during the UMNO General Assembly on 31 January to be debated and decided, based on the party's constitution."
It is not clear if the biggest bloc in the current government will be working with DAP and Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to topple the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
UMNO held its supreme council meeting at UMNO headquarters last night, 6 January.
Image via Berita Harian
UMNO's latest political move comes after the removal of Tan Sri Annuar Musa as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general
A day after his removal, he held a tell-all press conference, claiming that UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is conspiring with Anwar Ibrahim to bring down the government of the day, reported Malaysiakini.
During the hour-long press conference yesterday, he revealed a letter purportedly showing Zahid pledging his support to the Opposition leader.
"The letter mentioned toppling the present federal government, changing the prime minister, and promised loyalty to Anwar," said the Ketereh Member of Parliament (MP).
"We (as a party) never discussed this. The (UMNO) supreme council never discussed this because we wanted to avoid a bigger calamity."
"This is my main contention with (the BN) chairperson (Zahid). The grassroots don't know."
Image via Free Malaysia Today
However, UMNO has officially denied the existence of the letter.
Sinar Harian also reported Annuar as saying that UMNO is working with DAP to form a new government.
In response, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Annuar was making up stories in order to fight for his own political survival in UMNO
According to Free Malaysia Today, Lim said he had more conversations with Annuar than Zahid and former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak combined over the past few months.
"Annuar's pursuit of his racist and extremist philosophy for his political survival is an anathema to DAP because it is exclusive and un-Malaysian," Lim told the news portal.
"Don't drag us into this, don't use us as a pretext to save your own political skin. This is wrong and dishonest."
Meanwhile, Bersatu, in a statement, said this is not the right time for political manoeuvring as the country is battling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its party's information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan also said the General Election should only be held after the virus outbreak is under control.
Bersatu made no mention of UMNO in the statement, but stressed that the party will strengthen its relationship with PAS, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
The party said it will continue defending its political cooperation with the PN government, whose agenda is centred around the unity of the people.
UMNO is part of the government of the day, but is not a component party in the PN coalition.
Annuar was sacked as BN secretary-general after he doubled down on his 'No DAP, No Anwar' stance:
Meanwhile, the Registrar of Society has rejected two new political parties' applications:
With a wafer-thin majority of two, the PN government has faced many challenges to hold onto power:
Leave a comment