PM not at Umno 'urgent' meeting, top 5 party leaders to meet at his house

Umno’s top five leaders are expected to meet with Prime Minister and Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob at his official residence in Putrajaya tonight.

Sources within Umno indicated that the private meeting would be held as the Umno vice-president, who is also the Bera division chief, was unable to attend the larger gathering convened at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur earlier today.

“Tonight, Umno’s top leadership, including the top 5, will hold a meeting with the prime minister at his official residence.

“This follows his absence in the urgent meeting called by the top leaders with division chiefs today.

“During the meeting, the majority of Umno division chiefs in attendance agreed for GE15 to be called as soon as possible,” a source told Malaysiakini.

However, another source from the Prime Minister’s Office said that the home visit by Umno’s top leadership is not listed in Ismail Sabri’s schedule for tonight, and instead, he has a dinner engagement at a location outside of Putrajaya.

Malaysiakini understands that Ismail Sabri’s earlier absence was due to a prior scheduled event.

Umno Sungai Besar chief Jamal Mohd Yunos earlier said the meeting came as a shock, and the division chiefs were only notified last night.

He also confirmed that those present had unanimously agreed for the 15th general election (GE15) to be called soon, and they were given a briefing on preparations for GE15.

“The reason we were called is the readiness of the party’s machinery. Division leaders must raise all their needs and whatever ideas to face GE15.

“A total of 158 division leaders from across the country were present today, and we unanimously asked for GE15 to be called soon,” he said.

Najib’s appeal

Various other claims have also emerged about the meeting, including over the number of attendees and that the division chiefs had rejected a call for Ismail Sabri to intervene in Najib’s final SRC corruption appeal.

Contrary to Jamal’s claims, Astro Awani quoted a source who said only 74 division chiefs were in attendance, and some were purportedly under duress from rumours that those absent would not be fielded in GE15.

According to Astro Awani, there were two demands made in relation to Najib’s final appeal - for Ismail Sabri to instruct the judiciary to postpone the trial for another three months and to advise attorney-general Idrus Harun to charge SRC trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Furthermore, the report said that among division chiefs who rejected the demands include Muar Umno division chief Razali Ibrahim.

Aside from Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, party leaders present include Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

Meanwhile, among those absent from the meeting include two Umno ministers - Ketereh division chief Annuar Musa and Arau division chief Shahidan Kassim.

It is understood that the communications and multimedia minister and the federal territories minister, respectively, were attending the same function in Perlis today.

Sources also said a majority of those absent were from divisions in Sabah as they were unable to catch an overnight flight to be in Kuala Lumpur today.

The meeting today was held a day after the media reported Ismail Sabri’s views on his considerations before seeking an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the dissolution of Parliament and paving the way for GE15.

Among others, Malaysiakini reported that factors taken into consideration include the RM6 billion littoral combat ship scandal.

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