JOHOR BARU, July 13 — Umno's Tan Sri Annuar Musa should just speak plainly on whether there exists an agreement between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and rival ruling party Bersatu to create additional government posts, his party colleague Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said today.
Nur Jazlan, who is Johor Umno deputy chairman, chided Annuar, a former Barisan Nasional secretary-general, for prevaricating on giving a straightforward answer to questions from the party's grassroots.
"For me, Annuar does not need to give an answer to the media if he does not want to. He can just say 'no comment'. That is much safer than twisting your responses that does not actually answer the question,” Nur Jazlan said in a Facebook statement.
He was responding to Annuar’s advice to refrain from interfering in matters between Ismail Sabri, who is also Umno vice-president, and Bersatu concerning the contentious deal for the appointment of a deputy prime minister and a minister mentor.
"Annuar claimed that I only served to create chaos within the party when I questioned the existence of the purported political agreement.
"The reason I asked Annuar to confirm the agreement was because his name was quoted by people from the 'flower' party,” Nur Jazlan said, referring to Bersatu.
The former Pulai MP asserted that Umno grassroots members were unsettled by pictures of the purported agreement dated August 17, 2021 circulating on social media.
According to the document sighted by Malay Mail, the Bersatu-led Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition pledged its support for Ismail Sabri to be PM in return for appointing a member of its party as deputy prime minister and its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin be made minister mentor.
However, the authenticity of the documents, bearing the signatures of Ismail Sabri, Muhyiddin, Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin, and Annuar Musa, have yet to be verified.
Ismail Sabri has also been silent on the issue.
Malaysia does not currently have a DPM and had never had a minister mentor, unlike in neighbouring Singapore.
Nur Jazlan said that as an Umno division chief, he and the party's grassroots members just wanted to know the facts about the so-called deal.
"There is no need to blame others as the political agreement has already gone viral on social media platforms.
"If it is not right, please deny it and do not be a hypocrite and avoid telling the truth,” he said.
Nur Jazlan also took a swipe at Annuar after the latter accused him of talking about defeating Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"I asked a ‘simple’ question and I believe all Umno members want to know the truth from Annuar’s own mouth.
"Annuar also sometimes speaks as if he is bigger than the Umno president, where he acts as if he is ranked in the party as Umno’s Mursyidul Am,” he said, in reference to the highest decision-making post in PAS, another PN component party.
Annuar has been closely linked to the Islamist PAS.
Nur Jazlan claimed that Annuar no longer seems to have Umno in his heart, but has instead found a new connection with Bersatu, which was founded as a splinter party in 2016.
