KUALA LUMPUR - Umno president Zahid Hamidi said he has “forgiven” MPs from the party who had backed rival party chief Muhyiddin Yassin to become prime minister without his consent after last year’s general elections.
Amidst calls for action to be taken against “traitors” within the former ruling party, Zahid said the incident was something from the past, and the individuals are now firmly backing the current government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) is a part of.
“I have forgiven what has happened, but the disciplinary board is monitoring their current stand and if there are any new moves,” Zahid told reporters on the sidelines of the party assembly.
In a hung Parliament following Malaysia’s 15th general election, 10 BN MPs backed Mr Muhyiddin to become premier, despite Zahid claiming he had his coalition MPs’ mandate to decide who to ally with.
On Wednesday, Zahid named the 10 MPs – six from Umno – during a closed door briefing to over 3,000 party delegates at the onset of the ongoing Umno general assembly.
Among the key leaders named among the six was Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, a former Defence Minister and also former party vice-president. The other five were MPs from Johor and Negeri Sembilan, including former Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.
Umno’s Youth and Puteri wings on Thursday called for action to be taken against “traitors” within the party, without naming anyone.
The actions of the 10 MPs reflected the long-running split within Umno, between a camp led by Zahid and another camp seen as more aligned to Tan Sri Muhyiddin, who leads Umno splinter Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
In what Zahid dubbed the “St Regis move”, Mr Muhyiddin and select Umno leaders met for negotiations at a Kuala Lumpur hotel five days after the general election.
At that time, Mr Muhyiddin and Datuk Seri Anwar – whose coalitions had the two largest blocs in Parliament but no simple majority needed to form the government – were racing against each other to become premier.
The MPs eventually retracted their support for Mr Muhyiddin, and Zahid steered BN towards cooperating with long-time rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH) to help Mr Anwar - long considered an enemy of Umno - to become premier.
This secured Umno’s place in the federal government despite taking just 26 seats at GE15, and deputy premiership for Zahid, who has been blamed for the party’s worst showing in history.
Zahid is expected to face a leadership challenge from the opposing camp in the coming months in the run-up to party polls that must be held by May 19.
The ongoing assembly and the party polls are expected to emerge as a yardstick for Umno grassroots’ acceptance towards the party’s working relationship with PH.
The party’s youth wing chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki - a strong Zahid ally - on Thursday announced that he will not defend his post in the upcoming party polls, potentially further testing Zahid’s backing within the party.
Zahid’s trial over 47 graft charges involving RM31 million (S$9.5 million) resumes next Monday.
