UMNO chose to stick with Perikatan Nasional (PN) so as to abide by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s decree not to impose a state of emergency and for a stop to politicking amid the Covid-19 pandemic and economic fallout, the party’s Supreme Council members said.

A council member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Umno decided the nation’s stability during a time of pandemic came before the party’s political ambitions.

“We remained with the status quo because of the Agong’s decree. It’s about putting the people first before the party. There are no other issues,” the source told The Malaysian Insight.

Last night, the party’s decision-making body deliberated for nearly four hours whether to continue supporting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his PN government.

The outcome was that it would continue its support for the sake of unity during the pandemic, and asked for more respect and political consensus between Umno and other PN parties.

Umno also called for a national reconciliation between political parties after months of infighting within PN, and also with the opposition.

However, it reiterated it would not cooperate with DAP and PKR.

Umno’s decision followed Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah decision on Sunday to reject Muhyiddin’s bid for a state of emergency, ostensibly to fight the rising Covid-19 numbers.

However, Muhyiddin was criticised for wanting to save his own skin as an emergency would mean the suspension of Parliament, due to convene next week, so that he can avoid a possible test of confidence.

Another Umno leader, Mohamed Khaled Nordin, said it was not necessary for the party to withdraw from PN even if it was dissatisfied with Muhyiddin and his party Bersatu.

“It is true (Umno is not treated fairly) but that does not mean the solution is to pull out,” the vice-president told The Malaysian Insight.

Umno’s decision to abide by the king’s decree also means it did not adopt a suggestion by former party president and prime minister Najib Razak, who said working with Anwar Ibrahim was one option for Umno, as long as it did not involve DAP.

His suggestion follows Anwar’s claim of having majority support to change the government and become the next prime minister.

Anwar on October 13 had an audience with Sultan Abdullah to inform him of this support. The king was to have met political party chiefs to verify the numbers, but this has yet to happen due to the conditional movement-control order.

Najib said he had made the suggestion to work with Anwar at a Barisan Nasional meeting before the Umno Supreme Council meeting. Najib is not part of the body.

On Facebook later, Najib said he would abide by the decision of the council.

However, the Pekan MP also warned if Umno continued to be sidelined in PN, the party grassroots and public will think it is weak and this would not bode well for the party’s support in elections. – October 27, 2020.