BARISAN Nasional (BN) named Zambry Abd Kadir as its secretary-general tonight ahead of a key meeting with the King this week. 

Umno had proposed the ex-Perak Menteri Besar at its April meeting which was postponed due to undisclosed reasons. He is the pact’s third secretary-general this year, after Ahmad Maslan and Annuar Musa who was sacked in January. 

BN sources confirmed the appointment was announced at an online supreme council meeting tonight while Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin disclosed it to the Free Malaysia Today portal. 

Ahmad Maslan remains as the Umno secretary-general. 

BN chairman and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is to have an audience on Thursday with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah, who is meeting a number of political party leaders this week.

The meetings come amid pressure to open Parliament which has been suspended due to the Emergency declared in January 12 to combat the worsening Covid-19 pandemic. 

The emergency declaration came just days after Annuar, who was accused of being close to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu party, was sack from his post and replaced by Ahmad. 

Umno then decided in March that it will no longer support the Bersatu-led Perikatan Nasional government once the emergency ends on August 1.

But their BN partners, MCA and MIC, who remained ambivalent over the decision, said they were not consulted over BN matters including the secretary-general appointment. 

Zambry was the Perak menteri besar from 2009 to May 2018 when BN lost the 2018 general elections. 

Muhyiddin made him the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd chairman in August 2020. – June 8, 2021.