Ismail Sabri: Stop speculating, Umno remains in Cabinet

UMNO ministers will remain in the Cabinet under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration until the Parliament is dissolved.

(The Malaysian Reserve) – Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (picture) said speculations calling for the party’s ministers to quit should not arise as decisions had been made by the party in its recent general assembly.

“The Umno General Assembly has approved a motion without amendment which says we will remain in the government until the Parliament is dissolved. Therefore, there is no need (for) other speculations.

“The general assembly is the highest authority in the party, so when a decision is made, it is final,” he said at a press conference after the signing of collaboration between Pharmaniaga Bhd and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in Petaling Jaya recently.

The Umno General Assembly had approved the motion for the party to sever ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in the 15th General Election and withdraw its support for the PN government.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin then said Umno ministers will remain in the Cabinet amid the party’s resolution to sever ties with Bersatu to manage the Covid-19 pandemic, which is currently the administration’s priority.

On another note, Ismail Sabri said the decision to hold the election within the party is in the hands of the Supreme Council.

He explained that the election should be held in June, but the Constitution also allows for it to be postponed for 18 months.

“Although it stated that it should be held every three years, it is up to the Supreme Council whether to proceed with the party election in June or postpone it,” he said.

On the current Covid-19 situation in the country, the minister said the public should not be too relaxed as Malaysia is still recording over 1,000 daily cases. When the total lockdown was enforced nationwide in March last year, the number of daily cases only hovered around 300.

However, he said the government had allowed for the reopening of the economy because prolonged movement restrictions would greatly impact business owners, especially micro-entrepreneurs.

He also urged the public to not abuse the permission forms for interstate travel, including buying empty forms with fake signatures or stamps of the enforcement personnel.

The public should go through the right procedure or face stern actions if they are found to have obtained the forms illegally.

“The public should go to the police station to get approval for interstate travels and get the form stamped there,” he said.

“Police personnel will also be penalised for providing empty forms with an approval stamp for interstate travel,” added Ismail Sabri.

Recently, a social media post went viral showing an individual allegedly having received approval for interstate travel on an empty form. It was purported to be signed by a chief from a Chukai police station in Terengganu.

The state’s police had initiated an investigation to look into the case, which is believed to be a fraud.