The Malaysian Insight

UMNO will have to bear the “sins” committed by Perikatan Nasional (PN) if it does not leave the government soon, said Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

“And the biggest sin committed by Perikatan Nasional is the declaration of a state of emergency which Umno does not agree with,” the 84-year-old Gua Musang lawmaker told The Malaysian Insight.

The Umno veteran and party advisory committee chairman said the state of emergency has caused foreign investors to divert their investments to neighbouring countries.

“Not only foreign investors, but local investors are also turning to Indonesia and other countries. As a result of this, thousands of jobs have been lost,” said Tengku Razaleigh who was also a former finance minister.

Umno, said Tengku Razaleigh, will have to bear this responsibility if it does not leave the PN government.

“The problem with staying is that we will have to carry the sins and mistakes made by Perikatan although we are not members of their coalition.

“Why should Umno bear the brunt of other people’s sins?” said Tengku Razaleigh, or popularly known as Ku Li.

He said that Umno only agreed to join the PN government in 2020 to end the political turmoil that began with the Sheraton Move.

“But now that the situation has stabilised, there is no need for Umno to remain in the Perikatan Nasional government. This is not what the grassroots want either.”

On Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s comments of how the Umno veteran had failed to convince Umno MPs to withdraw their support from the PN government last year, Ku Li blamed the failure on money politics.

“There are certain leaders who are prone to crony capitalism. These leaders will only listen to those who can give them money or positions.

“But this is not what the party wants and I cannot give them anything as I don’t agree with money politics.

“Sooner or later, Umno will have to leave Perikatan Nasional anyway,” he added.

“We cannot be in Perikatan as we already have Barisan Nasional, which has MCA and MIC. All we wanted to do in 2020 was to stabilise the government and end Pakatan Harapan’s rule.

“Now that the situation has stabilised, it is time for Umno to leave as this is also what the grassroots want,” said Tengku Razaleigh.

Umno, in its annual general assembly last month, decided that the party would cut ties with Bersatu in August.

However, those in favour of working with the minority party seem to be defying the directive.

They said that while the party supreme council may have decided to cut ties with Bersatu, the ultimate decision lies with individual MPs. – May 10, 2021.