PETALING JAYA: Perikatan Nasional’s support for Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the prime minister candidate for the “new Perikatan Nasional” government raises a key question, says PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.
Speaking to FMT, the Lembah Pantai MP noted that the Umno general assembly in March had agreed that Umno would not work with Bersatu, which leads PN, for the next general election. Umno also decided earlier this month to withdraw support for the PN-led government.“Technically, Umno is not in PN. Does this mean Umno has now agreed to be in PN?” he asked.
“I think the best people to ask would be the people in Umno.”
Caretaker prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin had said earlier that Bersatu and its partners had agreed to support Ismail as prime minister in the “new Perikatan Nasional” government on condition that those facing court charges are not brought into the Cabinet.
“All I can say is ‘thank you’ to PN for supporting DSIS (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri),” he told FMT in a brief WhatsApp message.
Muhyiddin, who resigned as prime minister on Monday after losing majority support, said the 50 PN MPs supporting Ismail comprised 31 members from Bersatu, 18 from PAS and one from STAR, with another four independent MPs who were “pro-PN” also voicing their support for Ismail.
Ismail, the Bera MP, briefly served as deputy prime minister in the PN government, which was criticised by certain quarters for poor management of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy.
Questioning how effective a “new Perikatan Nasional government” would be, Fahmi said he was sure netizens would voice their concerns on the matter if a revamped PN government were to be formed.
“If this is the case, it looks like we will be faced with another failed government. If it is to be PN 2.0, then it will be #KerajaanGagal 2.0,” he said, referring to the hashtag which has been trending on social media.
“Some have been saying the appointment of Ismail as the prime minister is akin to ‘old wine in a new bottle’, but this is just ‘bad wine in a different bottle’.
“How would that be any good for the nation? I honestly don’t know.”
His partner in the Pakatan Harapan coalition, Amanah secretary-general Hatta Ramli, said he didn’t think a “new Perikatan Nasional government” would go down well with the rakyat.
Noting that there would be various arrangements in place among parties to secure support for Ismail, all eager to “demand their share of power”, the Lumut MP said the rebranded PN government is likely to have almost the same faces as the previous line-up.
“The rakyat were overjoyed when the (PN) government fell a few days ago,” he told FMT.
“With their return, and with just a change of prime ministers, I’m not too sure. Maybe our joy was premature”.
FMT
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/08/19/is-umno-now-in-pn-asks-pkr-man/
No comments:
Post a Comment