PETALING JAYA: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has suggested that the party’s divisions push for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to structure the departure of party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and stem the exodus of party members and leaders.
“Umno divisions can push for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM),“ he said on an Instagram post, that was accompanied by a screenshot of a Malay daily report saying that the Umno constitution can determine the embattled party president’s fate.
During the Umno elections, Ahmad Zahid received 78 votes, beating former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin (53 votes) and Gua Musang MP Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (28 votes).
Former Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told the party’s highest leadership to convene a supreme council meeting immediately, after one scheduled yesterday evening was called off at the eleventh hour.
“Amid uncertainty and worries, I call on the Umno top leadership to immediately call a supreme council meeting,“ the former defence minister posted on Twitter yesterday.
“Assurances must be made to the grassroots on the next step (to resolve and manage) the party crisis. Don’t delay, the grassroots have hopes.”
Umno now only has 37 MPs after 17 MPs left the party, citing loss of confidence in its leadership.
The party is divided into two factions, with one blaming the party’s current state on Ahmad Zahid, who has been charged with 46 criminal offences.
Meanwhile, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Prof Azmi Hassan said the recent move by Sabah Umno leaders to leave the party was not surprising or unusual due to the current political scenario at state and national levels.
“It has been the perception that Umno is considered a peninsular-based party which is not aligned to local aspirations,“ he said.
“With local based Warisan helming the state government, I see that Umno MPs and state representatives becoming independents who are friendly to the state and federal government is just a continuation of the GE14 results.”
Azmi said a more interesting argument was how long the politicians could remain as independents since Sabah politics is not independent friendly.
He said the best bet would be for most of them to join Warisan.
“The chances of joining any of Pakatan Harapan Semenanjung-based parties are highly unlikely since it doesn’t suit the Sabahans, who prefer local based parties.
Azmi said if Warisan was reluctant to accept ex-Umno members, the worst case scenario would be for them to remain independents and form a new party later.
