KUALA LUMPUR (April 1): No decision was made at last weekend’s Umno general assembly for ministers, menteri besar, deputy ministers, state executive council members and government-linked company (GLC) chairmen from the party to withdraw from the government.
UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the general assembly only affirmed the Supreme Council’s decision for the party to remain with the government until Parliament is dissolved.
“That was the first motion. The second was for us (Umno representatives in the government) to continue to support the government until Parliament is dissolved and the 15th general election (GE15) is held, after which we will cease cooperation,” he said at the Ministry of Defence and Malaysian Armed Forces’ Excellence Service Awards here today.
Ismail Sabri was commenting on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement yesterday that all Cabinet ministers from Umno would continue to remain in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and that the consensus was reached when the ministers concerned met him on Monday to seek his advice on their positions in the PN government.
On Sunday, delegates at the Umno assembly unanimously agreed with the motion to cut off political cooperation with Bersatu in GE15, but they also agreed to continue cooperating with the PN government until Parliament is dissolved.
On the fate of Muafakat Nasional (MN) now that Bersatu and PAS have agreed to work together in GE15, Ismail Sabri said that so far, Umno-PAS ties are running as usual.
He said the recent assembly also agreed for cooperation between the parties to be strengthened through MN, adding that both parties normally meet every fortnight to discuss issues.
Earlier, Ismail Sabri, who is also the senior defence minister, handed out excellence service awards to 396 individuals from the ministry and the Armed Forces.
Also present were Defence Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Muez Abd Aziz and Chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Affendi Buang.
