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MORE TURMOIL, MORE DESPARATION

Zahid should sack himself, Annuar says

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must sack himself for going against two of the party’s decisions made in the last Umno general assembly, senior party leader Tan Sri Annuar Musa said.

The former Ketereh member of parliament said Zahid should reflect on his actions before issuing threats to Umno MPs.

This is in relation to Zahid’s recent remark saying Umno MPs had signed a statutory declaration (SD) before GE15 which allowed him to have the final say in forming alliances.

He said failure to adhere to the signed SD would result in the MPs being sacked from the party and losing their seats.

Annuar said Zahid’s recent action of working with Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is akin to disobeying Umno and its decisions.

“Firstly, the assembly decided that we will work on Muafakat Nasional (MN) and secondly, there will be no Anwar and no DAP.

“Not only he dismissed MN, but he also started cooperating with Anwar. These are against the decisions made by the assembly and the Umno supreme council.
“We must understand that whatever’s decided will be part of our policy and the ‘no Anwar no DAP’ decision was brought from the political bureau to the supreme council and lastly to PAU.

“So, if anyone should be sacked, it is not the MPs but the president himself, because he doesn’t have the power to override the general assembly’s decision,” he said in an interview on Suara.TV last night.

Annuar also reminded that Zahid as party president did not have the full authority to sack a member, adding that there was a long process to follow before he could do so.

Annuar who is former Barisan Nasional secretary-general said the process of sacking a party member must go through the supreme council members.

“The myth of claiming the president can do whatever he likes, is what’s destroying Umno.”

Regarding the SD, Annuar said Zahid would not be able to take action against MPs who don’t obey his instructions, adding that the signed documents were unconstitutional.

“The SDs were signed before those leaders become MPs. They signed it under duress because they wanted to be nominated and the condition was to sign the SDs.

“At the same time, the power to appoint a prime minister, as stated in the Federal Constitution, is in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s hand based on the majority support of (individual) MPs, not party presidents.

“If we sign anything that goes against any articles in the Federal Constitution, it means the document is unconstitutional.”

In the last few days, calls for Zahid to step down from Umno and BN grew louder after he sent a signal that he was in negotiation with Anwar and PH.

While some BN leaders continue to support Zahid, others including caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and caretaker defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein have voiced their disagreement with the Bagan Datuk MP.