Bersatu Youth claims swipe against Najib perpetrated by former members
Bersatu Youth claims an "official" Facebook page that took a swipe at former premier Najib Abdul Razak yesterday is actually run by former members who have refused to cede control of the social media account.
This comes amid an ongoing row between Umno and Bersatu leaders, with the former griping that it was ceding too much to the latter.
In a statement last night, newly-minted Bersatu Youth information chief Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir accused former members of using the social media account to create disorder and taint the image of the wing's new leadership...
Bersatu Youth claims an "official" Facebook page that took a swipe at former premier Najib Abdul Razak yesterday is actually run by former members who have refused to cede control of the social media account.
This comes amid an ongoing row between Umno and Bersatu leaders, with the former griping that it was ceding too much to the latter.
In a statement last night, newly-minted Bersatu Youth information chief Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir (above) accused former members of using the social media account to create disorder and taint the image of the wing's new leadership.
"As per my previous announcement, Bersatu Youth's official Facebook page is no longer on the 'Armada Bersatu PPBM' account. Once again I would like to stress this account is fake and not the official page for Bersatu Youth.
"Our official Facebook page now is called 'Armada Bersatu Malaysia'. This official Bersatu Youth page has never been used to carry out activities such as 'trolling' or ridiculing our political opponents, let alone our own coalition partners. It is only used as a medium to distribute information," he said.
Bersatu Youth, like much of the party, had gone through a schism following the expulsion of Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former party youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman earlier in May.
Ashraf Mustaqim said the wing's previous information team had refused to transfer control of the original official Facebook account despite requests.
He added that he had reported the old page to Facebook, and urged other Bersatu Youth members to do the same so that it would be closed down.
His statement came hours after the old Bersatu Youth page waded into an ongoing social media argument between Bersatu and Umno, which was exacerbated by the power tussle between the two parties in Sabah.
Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (photo) yesterday swiped at his Bersatu counterpart, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, saying the latter gave Bersatu too much credit for Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)'s victory in the state election, without considering Umno's sacrifices.
Najib had posted a screenshot of Asyraf and Wan Ahmad Fayshal's post with a short status saying: "Don't go too far. The rakyat is watching."
It was not clear if Najib was repeating Asyraf's warning against Bersatu or if he was actually warning the two youth leaders not to fight openly before the public.
A Facebook page that appeared to be the "official" Bersatu Youth page then posted a screenshot of Najib's post, with the caption: "Penyamun" (robber).
Najib was recently convicted for seven criminal charges involving SRC International.
Umno and Bersatu are allies in a loose coalition - the GRS - which won the Sabah state election on Saturday.
Umno wanted to install its Sabah party chief Bung Moktar Radin as chief minister.
However, GRS ultimately appointed Sabah Bersatu chief Hajiji Noor as chief minister, while Bung was appointed as one of three deputies.
The move did not go down well with several Umno leaders, who viewed it as unfair as Umno had won the most number of state seats as a party.
Zahid urged to withdraw support for Muhyiddin
Meanwhile, a former Umno supreme council member had reportedly issued an ultimatum to the party president to act against Bersatu.
Lokman Adam (photo), in a Facebook live session, said the decision not to appoint Bung as Sabah chief minister was an insult to Umno as they were the party with the most number of seats in the GRS coalition.
He then urged Umno and BN lawmakers to give party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi a seven-day ultimatum to withdraw support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government led by Bersatu's Muhyiddin Yassin.
"Seven days from now, BN MPs must make a decision. Don't wait for too long," he said, as reported by portal Malaysia Dateline.
Lokman claimed that Umno MPs initially wanted to shift their support to Anwar Ibrahim.
However, he said this did not materialise after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was admitted into the National Heart Institute.
Lokman proposed that an alternative way to bring down Muhyiddin was by voting down Budget 2021 when it is tabled in Parliament next month.
"There will be a Parliament session this October. So this is the right time to make sure that we don't support the Budget that will be tabled by Muhyiddin," he said.
