'Loser' Umno unappreciative despite given many positions - Bersatu senator
Bersatu senator Rais Yatim has ticked off Umno for being "unappreciative" despite the many positions given to the party.
"The appreciation given to them appears to go unappreciated.
"Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should be given points for giving them a place (in the government). But so far, that does not appear to be the case.
- Added comments by Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii.
Bersatu senator Rais Yatim has ticked off Umno for being "unappreciative" despite the many positions given to the party.
"The appreciation given to them appears to go unappreciated.
"Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should be given points for giving them a place (in the government). But so far, that does not appear to be the case.
"Even though they (Umno) was the losing party (in the 14th general election), they got great positions and dozens of government-linked companies. I don't understand why," he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.
Rais (above) said the priority should be to defend Malay Muslim power.
"But Umno makes no mention of it," he said.
His criticism came amid friction between Umno and Bersatu over seat allocation for the 15th general election.
Yesterday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi demanded the Mersing parliamentary constituency back in the next general election.
This was after Mersing MP Abdul Latiff Ahmad (below), who defected from Umno to Bersatu, slighted his former Umno colleagues by claiming Umno was no longer popular in Sabah. He later apologised for the comment.
In an immediate response, Umno supreme council member Mohd Razlan Rafii pointed out that Rais had overlooked the fact that Umno/BN had mostly won in six recent by-elections.
"He should realise those who split the Malay Muslims was Bersatu who was in cahoots with DAP," he said in a statement.
"On the seat allocation issue, Umno decided that all seats contested by Umno/BN in the 14th general election belong to them.
"Those who want these seats should conduct negotiations and discussions in a good manner, not through an insulting way like what had been done by Bersatu," Razlan (below) said.
"Bersatu can keep all the former Umno MPs who are with them but the constituencies will be filled by Umno/BN candidates.
"I want to remind Rais that Umno will not compromise with those who try to pressure the party to accept any decision that will be detrimental to the Malays.
"He should also be aware that the government of the day was established because of Umno's support, so it is nothing wrong if Umno is given positions at various levels, including the GLCs based on its status in the government.
"I am of the view that Umno has no problem in relinquishing all posts in GLCs and to revoke support for the PN government. But, is this what Rais wants?"
The Pakatan Harapan government collapsed in late February after Muhyiddin pulled Bersatu out and formed a new coalition with PKR defectors, BN, PAS, GPS, PBS, and STAR.
Muhyiddin was sworn in as the new prime minister after his mentor-turned-rival Dr Mahathir Mohamad refused to lead the new Perikatan Nasional coalition as he adamantly refused to work with Umno.
Muhyiddin had been working to formalise PN so that component parties can contest under a common platform in the next general election.
However, some within Umno believes that the Umno and PAS alliance is strong enough to win in the next general election without having to make any concessions to Bersatu.
All three parties rely on a Malay base and have extensive overlapping claims over electoral constituencies that they want to contest in the general election.
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