2 Umno general assembly meetings this year, says Zahid

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party will hold two general assembly meetings this year.

(FMT) – He said the first will be the 2020 general assembly that had been postponed to Jan 31 this year but was shelved indefinitely due to the movement control order (MCO), while the second will be for the much-awaited party elections, where all posts are expected to be contested.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan previously said the new date for the 2020 general assembly will only be announced after the Covid-19 situation improves.

In an interview this evening, Zahid added that he would welcome other candidates to challenge him for the Umno presidency.

“Previously, when Najib (Razak) became president, the Umno Supreme Council had decided that the posts of president and deputy president will not be contested.

“When I took over as president, I decided that the president, deputy president and all posts will be open for contest.

“That is why in 2018 there were three candidates contesting the president’s post. This time, even if there are seven people who want to contest (the post), that would be good,” he said during the live-streamed interview.

Meanwhile, he also denied rumours that Umno and PAS were at odds, saying that both parties still shared very close ties.

“Maybe, there are some people who are not satisfied with the close ties between Umno and PAS. So they want to find ways to cause a rift.

“The relationship between both parties is still good and both are still very close.”

On a separate matter, Zahid revealed that he and several other Umno MPs had received an allocation of RM100,000 from the federal government to use for their constituencies for the year 2021.

He claimed that in comparison, Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs had received RM3.7 million for this year.

“I thank God I received that RM100,000, that is surely enough for the Bagan Datok constituency, which is one of the most neglected constituencies in Perak.”

Zahid added that Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, Pekan MP Najib Razak, Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz and Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub had also received the same amount.

“I hope the person who made this decision will consider allocating the same amount for MPs who had voted to pass the 2021 budget, which we (Umno MPs) voted for.

“We supported this (the budget), but all we got was a RM100,000,” he said.