The Malaysian Insight

IT is very clear that Umno will leave Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the next election as the writing is on the wall, said Umno Supreme Council member Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

“It is an open secret that Umno will leave PN when 118 out of 147 divisions have already decided.

“Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should understand that the decision has already been made. It is just not official yet,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Puad said the Umno supreme council had decided to leave the final decision to the Umno General Assembly as there are 118 resolutions on the issue of whether to stick with PN in the 15th general election.

“However, due to the emergency, we have had to postpone our general assembly – which was scheduled for January 31 – to Mar 27 and 28,” said Puad, adding that party grassroots were unhappy with PN because the village chiefs, who were appointed by PN, do not co-operate with Umno’s local leaders.

However, he also said Umno would not necessarily go it alone in GE15 after ditching Bersatu.

He said that a lot of party members are confused and believed that Umno will lose if it does not work with Bersatu in PN.

“Just because we reject Bersatu, it does not mean that we will contest by ourselves. We cannot be rigid at this moment and we can co-operate with other parties.

“Umno can still work with PAS or GPS and other parties in Sabah.”

Umno ministerial cluster

However, the former Batu Pahat MP admitted there was opposition among the supreme council on whether to cut ties with Bersatu in GE15.

“This comes from the those who have ministerial and other positions. They ask if Umno can win if it goes solo, but I don’t think Umno should underestimate itself as anything can happen in GE15,” said the Johor leader.

Federal Territories Minister and former Umno general secretary Annuar Musa is among those who have openly questioned Umno’s plan to ditch Bersatu.

After he was removed from his position as Barisan Nasional secretary-general, Annuar alleged that party president Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was conspiring with Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim and DAP to bring down the “Malay-Muslim” government.

“Yes, Annuar is among those who do not want Umno to break ties with PN, but we understand his reasons as he is in the cabinet,” said Puad with a smile, adding that Annuar’s contention that Umno would “die” did not make sense.

“Umno did not disappear after it was declared illegal in 1988, and it did not ‘die’ after losing GE14.

“Just like PAS, Umno is a party that is rooted with members on the ground, but Umno is bound to die a slow death if it continues to be with PN, which is politically dishonest and would stab it in the back,” said Puad.

“Annuar has to accept that in a democracy, he will have to accept the majority decision,” he said, adding that more than half of the party’s 191 divisions want to break off ties with Bersatu.

Moving forward, Puad said the party will follow the decisions made in Selangor and Perak that they will contest all the seats it won, including those where the candidates had defected to Bersatu.

“We may avoid clashing with PAS but we learnt from Sabah, the strategy of avoiding multiple cornered fights may not happen.

“Umno tried to avoid clashes with its allies in Sabah but these people sponsored independents to disrupt our seats and caused our candidates to lose,” said Puad. – February 26, 2021.