Umno ‘strongest party’ now but future cloudy, says ex-rep

(Malay Mail Online) – While Umno’s division chiefs huddle with their president today on current issues, a former elected representative said the party’s continued victory at the next elections is not guaranteed.

At a public forum here discussing politics and unity, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yassin was asked if Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s meet today with party division leaders was due to the party’s feelings of insecurity.

“At this moment, Umno is the strongest party but we don’t know what will happen in PRU14. We are more concerned about winning PRU14,” the former Umno MP for Muar replied, using the Malay abbreviation referring to the 14th general election due in 2018.

“If have strength, but lose in PRU14, also cannot,” Abdul Aziz, who is also president of the Council for Ex-Members of Parliament (Mubarak)’s Federal Territory chapter, told reporters here without elaborating further.

The public forum was organised by Bumiputera rights group Pemikir, which Abdul Aziz now heads and was held in the city’s Golden Triangle, a short drive away from the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) where Najib was meeting with some 160 Umno grassroots leaders out of 191 divisions nationwide.

Titled “Politics and Unity”, the event was also attended by Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik and Datuk Seri Osu Sukam.

Sabbaruddin is a former Bank Rakyat chairman, while Osu is a former Sabah chief minister.

Several news portals reported Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri telling reporters at the PWTC that Najib had briefed the party’s division chiefs on the government’s decision concerning debt-laden state investment firm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Ismail was reported saying the prime minister assuring party leaders that there would be no cover up in the audit of 1MDB’s accounts, with no protection for those found guilty of misconduct.