Maybe 'one or two' MPs pressuring Zahid, speculates Hamzah

Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin does not want to read too much into Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's contentious press release on Wednesday, which for most was a sign that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin no longer enjoyed majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

"His statement can be tricky [...] perhaps there are one or two people who pressured him (into) saying that they are with Anwar (Ibrahim). We don't know.

"What are (Anwar's) numbers like? I don't know. But most importantly, all those in the (purported) list have denied.

"Those who didn't deny, maybe (they have switched allegiances). I don't know," he said.

On Wednesday, Zahid had issued a press release which acknowledged that "many" Umno MPs were supporting Anwar's bid for the premiership.

Zahid did not name those MPs nor did Anwar.

Adding to the confusion was a purported list of 15 Umno MPs who were said to be switching allegiances from Muhyiddin to Anwar. Most have denied doing so.

Meanwhile, Hamzah urged the public to not read too much into Zahid's absence from the Sabah campaign yesterday.

According to Hamzah, Zahid was under self-quarantine due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Zahid was scheduled to appear in Sook, Tenom before capping his campaign at a grand ceramah in Kota Kinabalu last night.

"I looked at that positively because he loves his comrades ... (quarantining) is something that he should be doing.

"If he was not with (the Perikatan Nasional government), he would not have allowed people like Mahdzir Khalid, the Umno vice-president, to attend (a large ceramah) in Kota Kinabalu last night," said Hamzah.

Hamzah noted that other BN leaders such as MCA president Wee Ka Siong and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah deputy president Arthur Kurup spoke at the event.

"(He) could have called (BN leaders) and said no one should attend [...] it shows that we are still intact," said Hamzah.