JOHOR BARU, June 22 — Umno is not ruling out the possibility of setting up a new political party or joining an existing political party as their next platform if the Malay-based party is forced to disband, said Johor Umno chief Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
He said Umno may consider such a drastic move in light of the current situation facing the party, especially the recent civil forfeiture suit filed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“The move to be ‘Umno 3.0’ is a possibility with the law against us and the party needs to look at continuing its existence under a new platform,” said Hasni to a question by Malay Mail if the party was forced to disband following several investigations into its links with the scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Despite the odds against the party, Hasni said the spirit of Umno members is still strong.
“If the government disbands and dissolves the party, the Umno leadership will make sure that more than three million of our members will not be without a party,” he assured.
Hasni, who is also the Johor Opposition chief and Benut assemblyman, said this after officiating the Pulai Umno division meeting at the Dewan Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat in Tampoi here today.
Present was Johor Umno deputy chief and also the party’s Pulai division chief Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
However, Hasni also criticised the latest MACC civil forfeiture suit as an abuse of the legal process.
He said that Johor Umno was previously investigated by the authorities for its links to the 1MDB scandal, where its state liaison committee bank accounts were frozen and fleet of 26 Squad Sayang vans for community service were confiscated last year.
“The previous case has been scheduled for August 30 and it is still pending,” said Hasni, adding that Johor Umno has engaged with a lawyer to deal with the latest MACC civil forfeiture suit that he described as damaging.
Jazlan also echoed Hasni’s sentiment, saying that this was an effort by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to stamp out Umno.
“Pakatan Harapan (PH) advocated for a strong opposition before the 14th general election, but now they are using the instruments of government and the judiciary to eliminate a strong opposition party like Umno.
“It’s the same agenda when they were in the Opposition, which is to destroy Umno,” said the former deputy home minister and parliamentarian.
“Pakatan Harapan (PH) advocated for a strong opposition before the 14 general election, but now they are using the instruments of government and the judiciary to eliminate a strong opposition party like Umno.
In June last year, Johor Umno was hit by the 1MDB investigation, which saw MACC freeze several of the party’s division and individual member accounts. Following that, in August the same year, Johor Umno was ordered to surrender its entire fleet of “Skuad Sayang” vans to the police for investigation under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (AMLA) 2001.
Yesterday, MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said the anti-graft agency is trying to recover some RM270 million belonging to 1MDB that was dispersed from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s AmBank account via 41 civil forfeiture suits.
The lawsuits were filed against individuals and entities including political parties.
Of the RM270 million, RM212 million (78.5 per cent) was being sought from Umno divisions. Johor Umno has been named as among the party’s state recipients.
