Two-horse race for post of interim PM, says party insider

(FMT) – It’s now a two-horse race for the interim prime minister’s post, with a toss-up between deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, according to a party insider.

He told FMT there are two camps pushing for their choice of candidate.

“One side feels Tengku Razaleigh will be a better choice since he has the experience and would command greater respect from all sides,” said the party insider.

The 84-year-old, better known as Ku Li, is a member of Malay royalty and has served as MP since 1974 while Ismail has incumbency on his side.

Meanwhile, the party insider said more Umno MPs holding government positions are likely to resign from their posts.

“They should be announcing their resignations soon,” he added.

Earlier today, Shamsul Anuar Nasarah resigned as the Perikatan Nasional-led government’s energy and natural resources minister.

Earlier, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Umno had decided to withdraw support for the PN government, barely a month after it officially retracted support for Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.

The move leaves the PN government, which is heavily dependent on Umno’s support, in limbo.

Zahid went on to say that there were sufficient statutory declarations (SDs) from Umno MPs declaring that they were withdrawing support for Muhyiddin as the prime minister.

He said he had already presented the SDs to the King.