Zahid denies riding roughshod over Umno supreme council after members dispute last night’s decision

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today dismissed assertions by some members that he had left out the resolutions made in last night’s supreme council meeting from his statement declaring the party’s withdrawal of support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He maintained that all decisions made by the party’s top leadership council is based on democratic practices and are for the betterment of Malaysia.

“All decisions are made constitutionally, with intent and wisdom. Based on the welfare of the rakyat and the country.

“So the propaganda and perception that the Umno president makes his own decisions for the party is not true,” he said in a Facebook post this afternoon.

Ahmad Zahid emphasised that his party has always acted decisively for Malaysians and upheld the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers.

“It is proven that Umno listens to the conscience of the grassroots and fulfilled their mandate at the 2020 Umno General Assembly.

“It is clear that Umno as a party will continue to hold on to and champion the principle of parliamentary democracy. Umno will continue to be with the people no matter what the challenge or obstacle. For the love of Malaysia,” he wrote.

Several Umno insiders have disputed Ahmad Zahid’s press statement made after the four-hour supreme council meeting last night. They claimed that all but one resolution was mentioned, which mainly related to the free choice given to the party’s MPs should a no-confidence vote be tabled in Parliament against the prime minister in the next sitting.

In his post midnight press address, Ahmad Zahid said Umno’s supreme council has decided to withdraw support for Muhyiddin on account of the Bersatu leader’s purported failures in handling the Covid-19 health, economic, and political crises.

Ahmad Zahid urged Muhyiddin to act honourably and relinquish his post and allow the appointment of an interim prime minister to handle the current pandemic and subsequently advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to accede for a general election be called.

The supreme council meeting and Ahmad Zahid’s statement came on the heels of Muhyiddin’s surprise promotion of two Umno lawmakers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, as deputy prime minister and senior minister respectively.

And today, vehicles ferrying Ismail and Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun were spotted entering Muhyiddin’s house in Bukit Damansara here at around 9.40am.

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