Umno: No hidden agenda in PM candidate nomination

PONTIAN: Amanah’s claim that Umno nominated Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as its prime minister candidate for the 15th general election (GE15) as a ploy to speed up GE15 is not true, said Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

Ahmad said Umno has no hidden agenda and that each party has the right to nominate any of their leaders as their respective prime minister candidates.

“No one can stop Umno from naming Ismail Sabri as the prime minister candidate. That is our right, not a trick or anything. GE15 can be called any time deemed suitable by the prime minister, with the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said at an iftar event on Saturday.

He was commenting on a recent statement by Amanah communications director Khalid Abd Samad that the move by Umno to name Ismail Sabri as its prime minister candidate was a ploy to expedite the dissolution of Parliament for GE15, that must be held by Sept 16 next year.

There has been talk that Umno wants GE15 to be held as soon as possible following Barisan Nasional’s (BN) landslide victories in the Malacca and Johor state elections that were held in November last year and March this year respectively.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Maslan said Pakatan Harapan (PH) communications director Fahmi Fadzil’s statement that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Transformation and Political Stability between the federal government and PH did not involve Umno, was also untrue.

He said the MoU was signed by Umno leaders themselves, namely prime minister and Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri and Ketereh member of Parliament and Ketereh Umno division chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who is also minister of communications and multimedia.

Among the main items in the MoU, which expires on July 31, are that an anti-party hopping law must be passed and Parliament should not be dissolved before that date.

The Umno supreme council meeting on April 14 decided that the MoU would not be continued after July 31. – Bernama