HISHAMMUDDIN Hussein has said he will remain in Umno amid claims he is a traitor to the party after attending a meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former Umno vice-president had also taken some flak after being accused of inciting Umno MPs to jump over to Bersatu.

He said he had meet with Umno MPs to help them, not to urge them to defect to the Pakatan Harapan coalition party.

“I can still recall how some of them had come to see me alarmed, afraid, sad and uncertain about their future in the party or the direction it was headed in.

“Some left but the majority who were afraid are still with us now and confident of the party’s direction.

“The meetings were not to hatch plots or conspire against the leadership. It was never to leave. But some people did not know this or refused to find out,” he told party members at the Sembrong Umno division meeting today.

Several leaders and Umno activists had accused Hishamuddin of being the mastermind behind moves to the break the Malay party apart and convince its elected representatives to move to the ruling pact, particularly Bersatu.

Hishammuddin has maintained that it has never been his intention to leave or get anyone else to leave the party.

The Sembrong MP said his actions to help the party had been misconstrued, the same way the founder of Umno and his grandfather, Onn Jaafar’s initiatives had been misunderstood.

Onn had been rejected by party members after trying to open up Umno membership to other races.

He said Onn reasoned that it was impossible for Umno to rule Malaya without the support of non-Malays.

“At that time, Onn was accused of being a traitor to the race, of being senile, but his vision was eventually realised through the Barisan Nasional concept,” Hishammuddin said.

Last Sunday, Umno advisory council chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had said the party should not tolerate members whose actions ran counter to the party’s decisions.

He described such members as “pimps” (barua), who moved around and met with others as they pleased, without considering that their actions could jeopardise Umno’s efforts to revive itself after losing the general election last year.

“Those who want to run, those who are of no service to the party, get rid of them. We don’t want these thorns in the flesh.

“We have decided to cooperate with PAS, so we don’t want pimps,” the Umno veteran had said at the Bagan Datuk division meeting in Perak last Sunday.

Tengku Razaleigh’s remarks are believed to be directed at former defence minister Hishammuddin, who had attended a private meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last Tuesday.

The meeting was reportedly held for several opposition party representatives to state their support for Dr Mahathir to serve a full term as prime minister.

Others at the meeting were PAS vice-president Samsuri Ahmad Mokhtar, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Gabungan Parti Sarawak whip Fadillah Yusof.

Hishammuddin yesterday confirmed he was at the meeting.

However, he downplayed his presence, saying it was not unusual for lawmakers to meet with the prime minister. – August 9, 2019.