Muhyiddin shot himself in the foot, says Salleh

‘No one else to blame but himself, nowhere in the world does a deputy leader attack his own party and get away with it.’

(FMT) – Muhyiddin Yassin has no one to blame but himself for forcing Ummo to suspend him as the deputy president, says Sabah Umno deputy chairman Salleh Said Keruak.

Salleh, a former Sabah chief minister, said that while Muhyiddin had insisted his criticism was aimed only at prime minister Najib Razak and not Umno, he had also admitted that attacks on Najib would hurt the party at the next general election.

Therefore, Muhyiddin was attacking Umno as well by criticising Najib, who is the party president, said Salleh in a statement to FMT today.

He said that while Umno could expect such attacks from the Opposition, Muhyiddin was the party’s number two and his actions were “intolerable, unforgiveable and an act of treachery”. Umno had no choice but to take action, he said.

“Nowhere in the world does a party deputy leader attack his own party and get away with it.”

To make matters worse, Salleh added, Muhyiddin made no secret of the fact he was working in concert with a former party president (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) to attack the current president. Umno could not remain quiet and not take action regarding “this very weird state of affairs”.

“Muhyiddin needs to reflect on his own actions and see that he actually shot himself in the foot. No one did this to him. He did it to himself.”

The Umno Supreme Council had yesterday decided to suspend Muhyiddin as the deputy president until the next party elections on the grounds he had failed to assist Najib as stipulated in the party’s constitution.

In July last year, he was dismissed from the Cabinet after making veiled criticisms of Najib regarding the government investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd and a RM2.6 billion deposit into Najib’s private bank accounts. The government has said the money was a political donation and most of it had been returned.