9 Umno Cabinet ministers give full backing to Malaysia's PM Muhyiddin
PETALING JAYA – The Malaysian Cabinet, including all the nine ministers from Umno, has agreed to give full backing to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Prime Minister to lead the country in battling the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.
The ministers said this in a statement on Wednesday (July 14) that every government decision will be collectively decided by the Cabinet after taking into account the views of everyone, local media reported.
“The government’s priority is to ensure the success of the National Recovery Plan to ensure harmony and prosperity, and to bring Malaysia out of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the short statement said after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The support of the ministers from Umno is crucial for PM Muhyiddin, who has suspended parliamentary sittings since December.
Umno backed the formation of the 15-month old Perikatan Nasional (PN) government last year, but Umno’s decision-making supreme council decided last week to withdraw support for Mr Muhyiddin.
The move by the nine Umno ministers meant that they are ignoring decision of the supreme council which is led by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in a clear signal of a deep split in the Malay nationalist party.
Malaysia has a total of 32 full ministers including Mr Muhyiddin who is from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, with 31 MPs in Parliament.
Umno is the largest party in PN with 38 MPs.
The nine Umno Cabinet ministers who announced their continued support for Mr Muhyiddin on Wednesday included new Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who is also Defence Minister, new Senior Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who is also Foreign Minister, and Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Umno president Zahid on July 8 told a news conference that his party was withdrawing support for PM Muhyiddin, as agreed by the supreme council, and demanded his resignation. Zahid said then that the premier has failed in the country’s fight against Covid-19.
Malaysia on Wednesday logged 11,618 new coronavirus cases, the second straight day of a record caseload. Total cases now stood at 867,567.
Join ST’s Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Source: Read Full Article
