Zahid Hamidi controls party, not Ismail Sabri, Muhyiddin reveals

“When Parliament is dissolved, the person with the power to determine which candidates are fielded and who will lead the party during the election is the president, not the prime minister,” he said in a post on Facebook.

(Malaysia Now) – Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin today warned that while Ismail Sabri Yaakob had succeeded him in the country’s top office, the person who controls Umno is the party president.

“When Parliament is dissolved, the person with the power to determine which candidates are fielded and who will lead the party during the election is the president, not the prime minister,” he said in a post on Facebook.

“If they win the election, in general the person who is appointed as prime minister is the party president. If this should happen, then the plans of the court cluster will be achieved.

“They will return to power and settle their problems, God forbid.”

The court cluster refers to a group of Umno MPs including former prime minister Najib Razak and party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who are facing criminal charges in court.

Muhyiddin said the court cluster’s plan to topple him as prime minister began after he refused to interfere in their legal cases

Acknowledging that he had become prime minister with the support of MPs including from the court cluster, he added however that he had never asked or campaigned for the position.

“I was only following the provisions of the Federal Constitution,” he said. “When I received the support of the majority of MPs, I was appointed by the Agong as prime minister.

“It was only afterwards that I realised their support came with strings attached.”

Several days after his appointment as prime minister, he said, the court cluster had met with him to ask him to interfere in their cases so that they would go free.

“Although I knew that my position as prime minister depended on their support, I told them no as I did not want to betray my oath,” he said.

“It was from then onwards that the court cluster began working to topple me.”

Adding that they were still unsatisfied, Muhyiddin said one way for the group to return to power was to topple the state governments formed with Perikatan Nasional to trigger elections at the state level.

“When elections are held and if they win, the party leadership led by the court cluster will be seen as stronger and more influential.”

MalaysiaNow had previously reported that Zahid’s faction was planning a string of state elections culminating in a general election in July.

Muhyiddin said the state election strategy began after Barisan Nasional (BN) won the Melaka polls late last year.

“Because of this, the group planned the dissolution of the Johor legislative assembly so that an election would be held in the state.

“They chose Johor because Johor is said to be an Umno stronghold,” he added. “If their party wins the Johor election, they will urge the prime minister to dissolve Parliament so that a general election can be held.

“The only way to defeat the court cluster is to ensure that BN does not win the Johor election.”

https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2022/02/11/umno-chief-controls-party-not-pm-muhyiddin-says-in-warning-on-court-cluster/