THE Umno supreme council was unanimous in its decision to withdraw support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, council member Azalina Othman Said said.

“The council was unanimous in making the decision to withdraw support… Umno’s move is so that focus can be given to the people’s welfare and to speeding up vaccinations,” the deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker said on Facebook.

Her remarks contradict those of Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa, who earlier today alleged that the decision had been made before the supreme council meeting last night by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Annuar further alleged that Zahid’s announcement to the press after the meeting did not reflect actual discussions.

Annuar is not a supreme council member and is in the Umno faction that supports continued co-operation with Muhyiddin’s government.

In the early hours of this morning, Zahid announced that Umno had decided to immediately withdraw support for Muhyiddin, that the prime minister should resign and an interim prime minister be appointed until the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control, after which general elections must be held.

The decision is said to have split the party, which has nine MPs who are ministers and eight who are deputies in Muhyiddin’s government.

Umno has 38 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, with four seats held by its other Barisan Nasional component parties; MCA has two seats, while MIC and PBRS have one seat each. – July 8, 2021.