CONTRARY to the claims made by Umno leaders, there are no deals with DAP to form a new federal government, said opposition party MPs.

“There was never any question about Umno and DAP joining to form any government,” one federal lawmaker told The Malaysian Insight.

“Any discussions that happened were through Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.

The long-time lawmaker was commenting on sacked Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Annuar Musa’s allegations that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is conspiring with DAP to topple the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

Annuar, who was dropped as BN secretary-general on Tuesday, said he had “verified information” about Umno and DAP leaders meeting to include the latter in a new political alignment.

But the DAP lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, rubbishes the suggestion.

“It’s just a red herring to divert the public’s attention from the problems Umno is having with Bersatu.

“DAP is part of Pakatan and would never have ‘new coalition’ talks without its partners PKR and Amanah. That’s something Bersatu did in February. Not us,” said the MP.

Umno itself appears to be split, with those such as Annuar wanting to remain with PN while others, such as former president Najib Razak, are advocating for the party to break ties with Bersatu, he said.

Another DAP lawmaker from Perak said that while there were discussions prior to the confidence vote on former Perak menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, it was never about forming any new government or alliance.

“It was just the confidence issue,” he said.

Two other first-term MPs said that it is common for politicians to talk to each other.

“But it doesn’t mean that the parties were plotting to overthrow the government. Maybe Annuar is worried because Bersatu did it to Pakatan last year,” he said.

One of the MPs also said prior to the tabling of Budget 2021 in November, PN leaders reached out to DAP and PH to discuss the possibility of a confidence and supply agreement.

“These talks were initiated by both sides and the public was even told about this. But nothing happened, of course,” said the MP.

When asked if DAP lawmakers have discussed the possibility of partnering Umno to form government, he said: “This issue doesn’t arise at all”.

After less than a year since joining Bersatu, PAS, GPS and others to form the PN government, Umno is now mulling ending its ties with Bersatu.

At the heart of the issue are allegations that Bersatu is undermining the party by “buying” its members and upsetting the party during the Sabah elections last September.

At its Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday, Umno decided to let the general assembly, which will meet on January 31, decide whether to end ties with Bersatu. – January 8, 2021.