By FMT Reporters (8 July 2021)
PETALING JAYA: Two opposition politicians said today attention is on Umno MPs and ministers to see if they will quit their posts following the party’s official withdrawal of support for Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister.
PKR’s Wong Chen said there is a cloud of confusion and crisis within Umno, and the question is what will happen to those who break ranks with the party president.
“All eyes are now on the Umno ministers in the Cabinet. Will those in the minister cluster pull out of Perikatan Nasional or break ranks with Umno?” the Subang MP asked in a Facebook post.
“If they break ranks, will they be sacked? If they are sacked, will they join Bersatu? If they join Bersatu, will they still be ministers?
“Umno is now at a crossroads. What happens next will decide the fate of the nation.”
Wong said the political drama has taken the lives of Malaysians as collateral, at a time when the economy has weakened due to the pandemic and many have been subject to hardship.
“And, as a direct result of that failure, the economy is on its knees. White flags and suicides plague and haunt the desperate and poor.”
DAP’s P Ramasamy said Umno asking for the prime minister to resign might not work as many in Umno are federal ministers and hold other government posts.
He said the reality is that there are two warring factions in Umno – one with Muhyiddin on its side and another favouring party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said it appears that more Umno members are crossing over to Muhyiddin’s side.
“It is not clear whether Zahid has the full backing of all those in Umno, particularly those who have benefited by virtue of holding posts.
“In fact, there are already moves among certain Umno MPs to distance themselves from Zahid and to move closer to the comfort zone of Muhyiddin,” the Penang deputy chief minister told FMT in a statement.
Speaking after a four-hour Umno Supreme Council meeting last night, Zahid called for Muhyiddin to step down so that an interim prime minister could be appointed.
He said an election must be called once the country has achieved herd immunity against Covid-19.
Zahid said the government has failed to fulfil the two requirements the party had set to justify support for Muhyiddin’s administration.
These are realising the aspirations of the people and addressing the economic slowdown, as well as coming up with an effective plan to manage the pandemic.