THE Umno Supreme Council has not issued any directive for the party divisions to begin a motion of support on the candidacy of Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister after the general election at their meetings, said its vice-president Mahdzir Khalid.

On the contrary, he said, most of the party divisions did move on the matter, but the decisions were made on their own initiative.

“There was no instruction, it is up to the respective Umno divisions. So, yesterday, most of the Umno divisions held their meeting and tabled several motions, one of them is for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to become the ‘poster boy’ and the candidate for the prime minister’s post after the election,” he added. 

He told reporters this after attending an academic excellence award presentation at SMK Kuala Nerang today. 

He said the decision by Umno divisions concerned was also in line with the decision made by the party’s Supreme Council if Barisan Nasional (BN) was to win the election. 

When asked whether the motion would create a “conflict” with party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Mahdzir said even Zahid supports Ismail. 

“There is no conflict with the president as the president himself agreed to name Ismail Sabri as prime minister (candidate),” he added. 

On BN’s target in Kedah, Mahdzir said the coalition is confident of winning more than the two existing parliamentary seats.

Kedah has 15 parliamentary seats with seven seats currently held by Pakatan Harapan, three by PAS, three by Pejuang and two by BN. – Bernama, October 16, 2022.