KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said today that he was not aware that his own party’s MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was meeting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong today.

Met at the Kuala Lumpur court complex after his ongoing corruption trial, Zahid claimed to have no knowledge of such a meeting this afternoon involving Tengku Razaleigh, apart from news reports.

“I don’t know, I received news from the media,” he said briefly to reporters.

When asked if Tengku Razaleigh had informed him that he would be meeting with the Agong, Zahid replied: “Don’t have, I got to know about it from the media.”

Pressed on whether Tengku Razaleigh was representing Umno or meeting the Agong in his individual capacity, Zahid appeared to sidestep the question by saying: “He did not inform me, how do I know, I only knew it from the media.”

Zahid also did not commit when asked if his recent statement — on Umno MPs being free to act on their own capacity to support PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to form a new government — still stands.

Asked if it was possible that there are Umno MPs among the more than 120 MPs that Anwar claimed to support him, Zahid said he does not know and he was not informed of this.

When asked if the Barisan Nasional coalition — of which he is chairman of and of which Umno is a component party — is still backing current prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or Anwar, Zahid merely said that BN is part of the Perikatan Nasional government under Muhyiddin via the support of individual BN lawmakers.

“We are part of the Perikatan Nasional government and our support to Perikatan Nasional is not support by the party, but support by MPs,” he said.

Asked if Umno MPs are free to support Anwar, Zahid then highlighted his previous statement: “I had issued a statement. Look back at that statement and I hope that statement is studied and understood by the media.”

When pressed on whether his previous statement still stands with his remark that individual Umno MPs are free to support Anwar, Zahid did not directly address this but instead replied: “Previously when we support Perikatan Nasional, is also because of support of MPs.”

Zahid also declined to say what Umno’s stance towards Anwar was, noting that this was not for him alone to decide, but for the party to decide whether to support the PKR president.

Zahid further confirmed that Umno’s political bureau will be meeting tonight, but said that the issue of whether Umno would support Anwar is not on the meeting agenda.

Today, Zahid said he is still waiting for an official letter from Istana Negara on reports that presidents of political parties would be having an audience with the Agong.