Zahid: Mat Hasan offer to Mahathir is personal viewpoint, not Umno stance
Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan's invitation to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to pull Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan and form a government with Umno and PAS is a personal view," said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Umno president said the matter was not discussed at the two-party summit between Umno and PAS last month...
Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan's invitation to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to pull Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan and form a government with Umno and PAS is a personal view," said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Umno president said the matter was not discussed at the two-party summit between Umno and PAS last month.
"The Umno deputy president's proposal is a personal proposal and it has not been decided on in the party's Supreme Council."
"So this is something that I think cannot be considered a formal stand by the party itself," Ahmad Zahid (photo) told the media in the Parliament lobby today.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected Mohamad's invitation to form a new government with Umno and PAS.
He said that as a multi-nation state, a constitution should be comprised of a plural society and not just a specific ethnic group.
"We have no interest in forming a new government. We are aware that our country is a multi-racial country and that our government is independent with members of all races.
"It is a fact that we cannot deny that our country is a multi-ethnic country and that all races have rights in our country," he said.
On October 7, Mohamad invited Mahathir to form a new government if the prime minister was sincerely seeking to restore Malay and Muslim dominance in the country.
Interestingly, Zahid and Mat Hasan had debated this issue last year.
It was Zahid himself who said that Umno is hoping to come back to power by forging a "unity government" with "any" party within Pakatan Harapan.
"We are open (to establishing a unity government) before or after Anwar Ibrahim becomes prime minister," he said.
However in a press conference after his closing speech at the Umno AGM later that month, he said that the issue of forming a unity government was over, and the party would focus on being a responsible opposition.
This was after Zahid was countered by Mat Hasan who urged the party not to wait for a bridal gift if asked to form the government, saying it should not play second fiddle in a new government and should focus on rebuilding and rising again.
Meanwhile, commenting on the cessation of Utusan Malaysia's operations today, Zahid said Umno could not help as its account was now frozen by the authorities.
Umno, therefore, handed over to the new management of Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad to determine the direction of the newspaper's publishing company.
"The fate of the Utusan employees was a sad one not only for those affected but for the public, especially the readers.
"This is because using Umno's own account, which has often helped Utusan financially, is no longer possible because it is frozen.
"We leave it to the new management and the new stockholders to determine Utusan's future as Umno no longer holds any shares in Utusan," he said.
