KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 ― Umno lawmaker Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim has today denied party deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s claim that his party has a submissive role in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) Cabinet.
In response to the politician also called Tok Mat’s remark in his keynote address, he said that compared to other party components in PN, Umno has the most number of ministers and deputy ministers.
“That is the view from the deputy president, but the current position is that Umno has nine ministers, almost 20 plus deputy ministers in the Cabinet, bigger than Bersatu, bigger than PAS, bigger than GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak), PAS has three, GPS has three, Bersatu has eight, BN (Barisan Nasional) has 11,” he told reporters at Umno Annual General Meeting 2020 at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.
The Arau MP further said that Umno supreme council’s decision on cutting the knot with PN ahead of the 15th general election must be abided.
However, he questioned why the sentiment was brought up since the election is not scheduled for at least for another two years.
“As for now everyone has to follow, because the decision not to work together with other parties is on general election, a long way to go, two years more, a year more, why this thing was brought up as if it’s going to happen tomorrow?,” he added, referring to the election.
In a press conference earlier, Mohamad admitted that Umno is not the dominant party despite having roles in the ruling government.
The Umno deputy president said Umno is now merely a second-tier party and not even the backbone of the PN government.
