Umno's decision to continue supporting PN one of my suggestions - Najib
Najib Abdul Razak has refuted claims that he was driving Umno towards a partnership with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
In a Facebook post this afternoon, the former premier said cooperation with Anwar - without allying with DAP - was just one of the suggestions he made.
Najib's proposal was made during a meeting of BN MPs in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The views and proposals raised during the BN meeting were then discussed by the Umno supreme council, which ultimately decided to stick with Perikatan Nasional but wants better cooperation based on "respect" and "political consensus".
"This decision is also one of my three suggestions which I mentioned (during the BN meeting)," Najib said.
The former premier was not part of last night's Umno meeting as he is not a supreme council member.
Besides cooperating with Anwar or with PN, Najib said he had also proposed that Umno pushes for a fixed date on when to hold the next general election once the Covid-19 pandemic has abated.
The BN and Umno meetings came after the PN government's failure to secure the proclamation of a state of emergency.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in rejecting the proclamation, also warned MPs to stop political manoeuvres that could threaten the government's stability.
Meanwhile, Najib also protested against attempts to paint him as a close ally of Anwar.
"Some said I was an Anwar 'lover' (pencinta) or his best friend, and some posted again the photo of me visiting Anwar in hospital.
"I have visited many political leaders when they were ill, even if we are not politically aligned," he added.
He also denied that he was trying to cut deals to evade corruption charges against him, saying the same accusations had been levelled against him when Umno joined PN.
"(These accusations were made) even though I said I wanted no positions and wanted my cases to be heard to clear my name through the court process," he added.
Najib is currently on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB's funds.
He has also been convicted for the misappropriation of RM42 million from state-owned SRC International Sdn Bhd. This matter is currently under appeal.
