KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki called today for an end to any negotiations by certain party leaders to defect to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad or PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Asyraf instead told his party, which lost federal power for the first time in history this year, to emulate PAS that held on to their struggle even though they have been in the Opposition for over 60 years.
“Any efforts by a few to negotiate with either Tun Mahathir’s or Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s proxies must stop immediately,” Asyraf said in a statement.
“As long as such efforts continue, Umno will be seen as directionless and prone to break up even further. What is more worrying is that even if negotiations with whichever party are successful, Umno will be punished by the people more severely in the coming general election because we will be seen as unprincipled and Umno will be judged as a party that only craves power.”
Asyraf said Umno Youth would never leave their party.
“To those who left the party, remember that the Umno that you abandoned once carried you during times of prosperity and brought you up to the top. I hope you all get what you wish for.”
Sabah Umno lost Wednesday nine assemblymen, four MPs, and most of its state liaison committee, with the defectors pledging support towards Prime Minister Dr Mahathir’s leadership.
Before the Sabah Umno exodus, six MPs left Umno, three of whom — Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Bagan Serai MP Datuk Noor Azmi Ghazali, and Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin — joined PPBM. Another, Labuan MP Datuk Rozman Isli, joined Warisan.
Senior Umno leader Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said yesterday that he would support Anwar as prime minister on condition that the PKR president does not deregister Umno and returns full allocations to its lawmakers, claiming to have met Anwar several times.
