ONLY one of the 14 Umno MPs who withdrew support for former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin but who later supported Ismail Sabri Yaakob has made it into the new cabinet.

Noh Omar (Tanjong Karang) appointed entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister. Mohamad Alamin (Kimanis) is deputy education minister II but does not count as a member of cabinet..

Both of them were among the 14 Umno MPs who stood with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi earlier this month in retracting support for Muhyiddin, which eventually led to his resignation and replacement by Ismail Sabri.

Lenggong MP Dr Shamsul Annuar Nasarah, who was energy and natural resources minister in Muhyiddin’s cabinet but who resigned, was among the 14 who did not feature in Ismail’s cabinet.

A surprise omission is Azalina Othman Said who was also one of the 14.

Like Zahid and former Umno president Najib Razak, the former deputy Dewan Raykat speaker, had been a vocal critic of the Muhyiddin administration’s emergency rule and suspension of Parliament.

Higher Education Minister Dr Noraini Ahmad was given back her job, however, despite resigning the post under Muhyiddin. But unlike the 14, she did not sign a statutory declaration against Muhyiddin for submission to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Besides Zahid, the 13 other MPs who withdrew support from Muhyiddin were Najib Razak (Pekan), Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Dr Shamsul Annuar Nasarah (Lenggong), Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling), Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang), Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan), Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (Machang), Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit), Ahmad Nazlan Idris (Jerantut), Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands), Mohamad Alamin (Kimanis), Noh Omar (Tanjong Karang), and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Gua Musang).

Although Zahid is the Umno chief, Ismail who is party vice president, broke ranks and declared that he had 23 Umno MPs on his side who would continue backing Muhyiddin, provoking warnings of “consequences” for his actions from the party leader. – August 27, 2021.

Muhyiddin resigned on August 16.

The 14 MPs were initially thought to have been aligned with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim for the prime minister’s post, but the Umno eventually closed ranks to rally behind Ismail.

While the new prime minister has left out most of the14 from the cabinet, he has promoted those who did not see eye-to-eye with the Umno president, such as Shahidan Kassim who is now Federal Territories minister.

Annuar Musa, another Umno cabinet member who was loyal to Muhyiddin and who openly disagreed with Zahid, has been retained and moved to head the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

The biggest Bersatu name dropped by Ismail is Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, who was special functions minister in the Prime Minister’s Department under Muhyiddin.

Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu has a cabinet seat as youth and sports minister. He is the most senior Bersatu leader in it. – August 27, 2021.