I don’t know why we’re being called traitors, says Hisham
Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein says he and nine other Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs cannot be labelled traitors for signing statutory declarations (SD) backing Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin following the recent general election (GE15).
(FMT) – The BN treasurer-general said this is because they had toed the line and retracted their SDs when the coalition finally made a decision.
“To this day, I don’t know why we are being accused of being traitors. I’m confident that following what has transpired, there is nothing that we have to apologise for,” he said.
“If they (Umno) want to take action (against us), go ahead. There’s nothing for me to worry about.”
Hishammuddin said they had signed the SDs based on BN’s initial stand not to work with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to form the government.
He added that after the King called for a unity government, they assumed the party would abide by the King’s decree. “So, where is the betrayal?”
He called for an end to accusations and open spats among Umno members, saying it was crucial that the party moved forward following its heavy loss in GE15.
“During this general assembly, I hope that we can discuss the party’s direction and how we can regain the people’s belief in the party and our struggle.
“That is much better than using this platform to squabble among ourselves and to attack or accuse one another. We have had enough of that.”
Nonetheless, the BN treasurer-general thanked Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for forgiving him and the nine MPs.
Yesterday, Zahid said he had forgiven the 10 BN MPs but will be keeping a close eye on them to ensure they would not do anything similar behind the party’s back in the future.
During a special briefing with the political bureau of every Umno division, Zahid president had identified the 10 MPs who had gone behind the coalition’s back and signed the SDs after the outcome of GE15 ended with a hung Parliament.
Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said Zahid revealed that six of the MPs were from Umno – Hishammuddin, Hasni Mohammad (Simpang Renggam), Jalaluddin Alias (Jelebu), Isam Isa (Tampin), Adnan Abu Hassan (Kuala Pilah) and Abdul Rahman Mohamad (Lipis).
MCA’s Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam) and Wee Jeck Seng (Tanjung Piai), MIC’s M Saravanan (Tapah), and PBRS’ Arthur Joseph Kurup (Pensiangan) were the other four MPs.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin hinted that he might be contesting for one of the top two Umno posts.
However, he said he will only decide on this after the general assembly agrees whether or not to allow contests for the Umno president and deputy president’s posts.
“If the assembly’s decision is to allow contests, I don’t mind thinking about contesting. But we have to see if there will be contests (for the top two posts) or not.”
