KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today the party’s direction following the recently concluded Sabah state election will be decided by its supreme council and not him alone.
Taking to Facebook, Zahid said it was not suitable for him to speak or decide for the party without a general consensus from the senior leadership.
“The party direction post-Sabah state election will be discussed in the party’s political bureau and will be brought to the supreme council. This is something important.
“It is not suitable for me to speak or decide without everyone’s agreement. At this time, we are conducting a full post-mortem,” he said in a brief statement here.
Zahid also said all of the party’s leadership can voice their opinions in the meeting.
This comes after Umno deputy president Datuk Mohamad Hasan called on Zahid to provide guidance on whether the party should keep up alliances that were costing rather than benefiting it.
Mohamad’s remarks today were the most patent so far on how some sections of Umno viewed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and the Perikatan Nasional coalition.
Former Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam had also urged Zahid to order Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives to leave the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) in protest of Bersatu’s alleged “bully” behaviour in Sabah recently.
While the two supposed partners have maintained a testy and occasionally hostile alliance, neither side has openly described the other as a “political rival”.
Umno and Bersatu remain cold towards one another despite being nominal allies in the federal administration.
In July, Zahid announced that Umno would not join a formal PN that has since been registered as an official entity.
He said then that Umno and BN lawmakers’ support for the PN government was only in matters of confidence and supply.
Recently, Zahid issued a cryptic statement acknowledging support for PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from within his coalition and party on the same day as the latter’s announcement claiming to have “formidable” support among lawmakers including those from the government’s side.
Zahid said that he was told many MPs have stated their support for Anwar to form the new government and that he respected their stand.
