UMNO has denied issuing any letter supporting Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister, said the party.

“The Umno president’s office has never issued such a letter,” said Umno secretary Mohd Sumali Reduan in a statement today.

“We are responsible for preparing all the correspondences and no party letter heads have been issued without a reference number,” he added.

He said the letter was circulated by parties who want to tarnish Umno president Dr Zahid Ahmad Hamidi’s reputation.

Mohd Sumali was commenting on copies of a letter allegedly sent by Zahid to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on October 11.

The letter, purportedly signed by Zahid as well as Najib Razak in his capacity as Barisan Nasional advisor, states that all Umno MPs withdraw their support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and are unanimously behind Anwar to be the country’s ninth prime minister.

Earlier today, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin posted a photo of the letter on Instagram, saying he was not in support of the PKR president and Port Dickson MP’s bid to be prime minister.

“If the letter is true, I want to categorically state that my party president does not speak for me. I am not supporting Anwar Ibrahim to become PM.

“I hope other Umno MPs will make their positions clear. Let’s see then who has the numbers,” said Khairy in a post on an Instagram story.

Anwar claimed on Sept 23 that he had the majority numbers to be the next prime minister, and that Muhyiddin’s government had collapsed.

On Tuesday, he had an audience with the Yang Di Pertuan Agong on the matter. The king is now in the process of meeting the heads of political parties to verify Anwar’s claim.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan today also said the party would never work with Anwar, nor with Dr Mahathir Mohamad or DAP. – October 17, 2020.