UMNO is divided into two factions – leaders with government posts and those sidelined by the Muhyiddin Yassin-led Perikatan Nasional government, said party insiders.

The faction with the plum positions wants Umno to remain in the ruling coalition while the others, including those facing numerous criminal cases in court, are clamouring for the party to ditch PN and join up with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Sources told The Malaysian Insight leaders unhappy with the situation now include Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and those who supported Muhyiddin to be prime minister in late February but whose criminal trials are ongoing.

This was evident when former prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty of all seven criminal charges – three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power – linked to the SRC International case in July.

Zahid later said Umno was not part of PN. Umno instead got Muhyiddin’s Bersatu to join the Muafakat Nasional pact with PAS.

The other leaders still facing court action are former Federal Territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, current Sabah deputy chief minister Bung Moktar Radin, former deputy international trade and industry minister Ahmad Maslan and Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, the former Tabung Haji chairman.

Sources said there is a group of leaders who are willing to pledge their support for Anwar, not because they want to form a government with him but to trigger snap elections as PN would effectively lose its majority.

This move, according to sources, is being led by two senior Umno leaders who are not in the party’s Supreme Council.

“They are prepared to bring several Umno parliamentarians who do not support PN, to Anwar.

“If there are those who want to still support PN, like those who have been given posts and are in the government, they are welcome to stay.

“But this other group doesn’t want to support (PN) anymore. They have around 12 parliamentarians,” the source told The Malaysian Insight.

Seat grab

Anwar last week declared the PN government led by Muhyiddin had fallen, as he has a convincing majority to take over Putrajaya.

Zahid said his party members are free to pledge their support to Anwar if they wish to.

Umno’s former Kempas assemblyman Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Tengku Hamid Jumat said there are leaders comfortable being in the government so they are willing to allow Umno play second fiddle to Bersatu.

“There is one group of leaders who are comfortable holding and defending their cabinet positions. Another group is facing various trials in the court of law.

“Those who already hold positions in government certainly want the ‘status quo’ under the prime minister from Bersatu,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The Johor politician said the pact with PN was just to form government but does not include Umno as a whole as it would be a different scenario when it came to seat negotiations.

“It is understood that we will strengthen Muafakat Nasional and will be together with Bersatu-PN only until this term ends. The coalition with PN is among Umno MPs but not the party per say.

“The seats won by Umno will remain with Umno and will not be handed over to Bersatu members who jumped after winning on Umno/BN tickets. Top (Bersatu) leaders should stop spinning their words and actions,” Tengku Haron said.

He also took aim at Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa, who has been defending PN, instead of giving more importance to Umno.

“For example, the Umno president and deputy made a parallel statement, then suddenly the Barisan secretary-general (Annuar) made an opposite statement.

“He must have forgotten that he is the BN secretary-general and not the PN secretary-general.”

Tengku Haron was referring to comments made by Zahid that Umno lawmakers can leave to join Anwar, while Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan urged Zahid to give a clear direction as to where the party is headed.

Annuar, however, threw his support behind PN, claiming that the ruling coalition is not sidelining or bullying Umno.

Another source told The Malaysian Insight the current Umno leaders who are in Muhyiddin’s cabinet are comfortable in the positions and would not want to leave the prime minister.

Those currently in the cabinet are Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Foreign Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Youth and Sports Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Former Setiawangsa MP Fauzi Zahari said these leaders are keen to work with PN as it is a chance for Umno to reinvent itself and be more palatable to the public in the next general election.

“Moving forward, the party needs to decide how people perceive them before taking any action. It is not the matter of a big party or small party, but what people think.

“Umno has been around for more than 60 years, they do not know how to play second fiddle but it needs to be wiser.

“The leaders who are working with PN want to change how people view Umno. Muhyiddin has handled the Covid-19 issue well and is popular. People now want a stable government more than anything,” Fauzi said.

The former Setiawangsa division deputy chief said leaders who are sidelined from the government are afraid they will be next on the chopping block.

“The party is not wrong in wanting to change the way it works. There are several people who are still out for their own selfish gain. These characters are not even in government and they make a lot of noise,” Fauzi added.

Usurper claim

Mohamad recently urged Zahid to provide clear direction for party members bristling over PN’s treatment after winning the Sabah elections.

Sabah Bersatu chairman Hajiji Noor was sworn in as chief minister on Tuesday while the Umno candidate for the post, Bung Moktar was made his deputy.

This angered many Umno members, who viewed Bersatu as a usurper.

Annuar jumped to PN’s defence, saying the party will be rewarded handsomely in the near future.

“Umno is not ‘sidelined’ but has a very big role,” he tweeted in response.

“The direction of Umno’s political cooperation is clear. It is clearly in line with the MN charter. The party must move on the principles of unity and cooperation.

“The question now is do we have the steadfastness to continue with this or is there other things troubling our ‘political faith’?” Annuar said.

Universiti Malaya’s Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Annuar’s statement was to appease the grassroots as he did not want the party to implode while they are in government.

“He is trying to calm the situation. The grassroots are very angry after Sabah. They had hoped to get the chief minister’s position.

“Annuar’s stand does not tally with what the grassroots are saying. He is defending and rationalising why Umno should stay in the coalition,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The political scientist added that the Umno group comfortable with PN feel even if an election is called, Muhyiddin will lead them to victory over any Umno leader.

“Annuar now feels comfortable with Bersatu, so are some of the other ministers. They feel Muhyiddin will still be prime minister.”

However, an Umno source said a few “neutral” parliamentarians are waiting to see how this plays out.

“There are not many, but there are those who will only decide which faction they will support, when the time comes.” – October 3, 2020.