The Malaysian Insight

THE Umno Supreme Council has kicked off a meeting to discuss the possibility of joining the government amid speculation about the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

The meeting is called by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with council members being coy about the agenda.

Vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the meeting is unscheduled.

“I don’t know the agenda,” he said as he headed into the meeting.

Though on short notice, 25 Supreme Council members have arrived after attending a retreat with ally PAS in Janda Baik.

The Muafakat Nasional retreat started yesterday and was attended by the top brass of both parties.

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa said Zahid ordered him to summon the Supreme Council meeting today.

“It is a special meeting. We showed up to see what the president has to say,” he said, admitting he heard other political parties were in a huddle over the future of the country.

Today’s meeting is the latest to kick off today after in a slew of them in Kuala Lumpur, purportedly being held to discuss a possible new government.

Bersatu, which met this morning, ended its six-hour meeting without Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad or other leaders talking to the media.

The PKR faction aligned to deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali is currently meeting at the Sheraton hotel in Petaling Jaya.

Though it was earlier believed that Umno and PAS would jointly meet, it now appears that the Islamist party will not be meeting with its ally.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak MPs and Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg are meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

However, some of its party leaders sought to down play the meet, saying it is a routine meeting ahead of the upcoming parliamentary sitting, which begins on March 9.

The meetings are being held against the backdrop of a tense Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting last Friday where Dr Mahathir was pressured to set a date for the transition of power.

The meeting ended with the council deciding to allow Dr Mahathir to choose when to retire but events there appeared to have damaged ties among the four coalition partners.

Apart from Bersatu, other members in PH are PKR, DAP and Amanah.

Currently, PKR has 50 MPs, DAP (42), Bersatu (26), and Amanah (11). Its associate Parti Warisan Sabah has nine MPs.

On the opposition side, Umno has 39 MPs, PAS (18) and GPS (18).

A simple majority of 112 out of the 222-seat Parliament is needed to form a government.

All the parties at some point in the last months met with Dr Mahathir to discuss the country’s future. – February 23, 2020.