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PETALING JAYA: Najib Razak said tonight that Umno should be willing to work with Anwar Ibrahim to form a government until the next general election, on the condition that Anwar does not stick with the DAP.
Najib, the former president of Umno, said his proposal that Umno work with Anwar was an option the party could consider if its first preference, for an early general election, was rejected by the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
Members of Umno have recently expressed dissatisfaction with their position in the coalition government, saying that the party deserved greater participation as the party with the most seats.
The unhappiness led to suggestions that Umno might withdraw support for the PPBM-led coalition.
Najib said he was also open to continuing Umno’s support for the PN government until the next general election, but on the condition that Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) play important roles, especially in the economy.
He said in a Facebook post tonight that if Umno could work with PPBM’s Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali to form a new government in March, “even though at that time PPBM was an enemy who had courted many of our MPs, why we can not? negotiate a collaboration, with attached conditions, with Anwar until the 15th general election?
Najib said conditions in Anwar had been emphasized several times at BN’s meeting today, following news reports that he was pushing for Umno MPs to back Anwar.
Najib said the news report “was not that accurate.”
He said that the PPBM currently “monopolizes” several important government positions, including the prime minister, the economy ministry and the Economic Action Council, where there are no representatives from Umno, PAS and other parties.
A stronger role for Umno in finance and economy “would allow us to draw up plans to help and stimulate the economy more effectively, including extending the moratorium and issuing special aid to Sabah, which was severely affected ( for the Covid-19 pandemic) “.
Najib said he has expressed disappointment over and over again at the PN government’s handling of the pandemic, especially in regards to the prison groups that reported the highest number of cases in the third wave of Covid-19.
He said that Umno was still blamed for the raise despite not being in charge. “If we are assigned a bigger role, we can help overcome this weakness.”
“These were some of the proposals I made in today’s meeting. I’ll let the party review and discuss these suggestions. “
