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PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The top decision-making council of Malaysia’s largest ruling party, Umno, will meet later on Thursday (October 29), sources say.
Umno will convene a special meeting of the supreme council a few days after he announced continued support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Umno is the largest party, with 39 deputies out of 113, in the PN. The second largest of the 13-party NP is Prime Minister Muhyddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, with 31 legislators.
Sources in Umno confirmed that they were informed of the meeting, which will be held at its headquarters in the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur at 8:00 p.m.
However, they are not sure of the meeting agenda.
“I’m not sure what the agenda is … I’ll just find out later in the meeting,” a source told The Star.
But the special meeting is believed to have been called to discuss the possibility of the deputy prime minister being awarded to Umno, a position he has been pushing to remain loyal to the PN.
The eight-month government of Tan Sri Muhyiddin has four senior ministers, but no deputy prime minister.
The meeting was also called a day after the King of Malaysia called on the 222 federal legislators to “give full support” to the next Budget to be presented in Parliament on November 6.
The palace issued the statement after Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah met with Prime Minister Muhyiddin on Wednesday morning to receive briefings on the crucial supplies bill.
“Sultan Abdullah calls on MPs to respect His Majesty’s advice to end all political disputes and instead prioritize public welfare and national prosperity to ensure that the 2021 budget passes without disruption,” said the Royal Comptroller Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin in the statement.
The king had rejected Muhyiddin’s controversial request for emergency powers on Sunday, a shameful setback for the slim-majority prime minister who is being threatened by rival parties.
Meanwhile, another source said that Umno was doing a tally on how many members of the supreme council could attend the meeting.
“If not many can do it, the meeting will have to be postponed,” said the source.
Umno Online, the party’s website, estimates the number of members of the supreme council at 59. They are made up of the president and other senior officials from those elected and nominated to the party’s superior council with 3 million members.
The Umno high council, which met on Monday (October 26), rejected the idea of supporting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim or the China-dominated Democratic Action Party.
Meanwhile, the Malaysiakini news site said a key agenda at the meeting would be Umno’s terms for continuing cooperation with the PN, including the election of a leader as deputy prime minister.
Citing Umno sources, Malaysiakini said the three names being considered for the post of Deputy Prime Minister are Umno Vice President Mohamad Hasan, Vice President and Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, or a Johor division chief and minister. of Foreign Relations, Hishammuddin Hussein.
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