KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s expected announcement for Barisan Nasional (BN) to sever ties with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government may not come following a failed meeting with its MPs today.
Several sources confirmed the meeting happening at the Umno headquarters today, which is being led by Zahid and convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ask support from their MPs to leave PN.
“Zahid met with BN and Umno MPs. It is related to the 14-day ultimatum that he announced on July 21.
“However it was rejected outright and many MPs said that the decision to leave PN now is not the right time,” said one source without elaborating.
Meanwhile, another source said in another meeting with some Umno Supreme Council members including vice-president and senior minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today, Zahid failed to convince them to make a decision to leave PN.
“The meeting has not reached that decision,” said the source, referring to the desired outcome to leave PN.
Another source told Malay Mail that some MPs outrightly accused Zahid of colluding with Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to destroy PN.
“Some MPs outrightly rejected the idea as they thought Zahid was willing to cooperate with Anwar and lead Umno to further problems.
Portal MalaysiaNow also reported that Umno MPs today rejected the party’s proposal to quit the government.
Another source from Umno who supported PN told Malay Mail that Zahid had given another ultimatum to the party’s MPs, asking them to support him and leave the coalition under Muhyiddin.
“Zahid is supposed to get consensus from the Supreme Council and MPs to leave PN on July 7,” said the source, adding that Zahid is now at a disadvantage as more than 20 out of 38 Umno MPs wanted to stay in PN.
Several media reported that Zahid attended meetings with Umno leadership including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the afternoon.
Utusan Malaysia also said Zahid has scheduled another meeting with some Umno and BN MPs tonight.
Malay Mail is currently attempting to reach Zahid and other top BN and Umno leaders for additional comments.
On June 21, Zahid had on June 21 given the PN government a 14-day ultimatum to convene Parliament which ended today.
In a statement Zahid said the ultimatum was intended to uphold the Rulers’ decree which had called for Parliament to convene as soon as possible after parliamentary proceedings were suspended under the Emergency since January 11.
However, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has set July 26 for Parliament to reconvene.
