Noh, Shahril step down from Umno posts, urge the same from Zahid

Top Umno figures Noh Omar and Shahril Hamdan have stepped down from their party positions and urged party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to do the same.

This follows BN's disastrous showing at the polls yesterday, which saw BN winning just 30 parliamentary seats and failing to retain control of Perlis, Perak and Pahang.

Noh was the Selangor Umno chief while Shahril was the party's information chief. Noh was dropped as a candidate for yesterday's election while Shahril failed to win the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat.

In a statement, Shahril said he was stepping down in the spirit of collective responsibility.

"I agree with the Johor Menteri Besar (Onn Hafiz Ghazi), that is, without diminishing respect for him as an individual, I am of the view that the Umno president and the BN chairperson (Zahid) needs to set an example by taking responsibility for this defeat and withdrawing honourably," said Shahril (above) in a statement on social media.

He reminded the party leadership of the concept of "collective responsibility" in a failure. Umno only secured 26 seats in the election, making it by far the poorest performance of the once nationally dominant party.

"Umno needs to consider the next step in a situation where no party reaches the figure of 112 (required for a parliamentary majority) in GE15.

"This decision is big and needs to be made by the supreme council, not just any individual or group.

"Let the leadership and other individuals lead the discussion to make the next big decision for this party.

"Like many others, I remain loyal to Umno. The party's struggle is not over. This is not the end," said Shahril.

Be a strong opposition

Meanwhile, Umno supreme council member Isham Jalil urged party members to be a strong opposition and win back the support of the people. 

"The people have given a mandate to the party they chose to govern the country. If it has been decided that we will be the opposition, we have to dare to be a strong opposition to check the balance of the government for the benefit of the people.

"Looking ahead, we need to find a way and work to restore the party so that it will be accepted by the people again in the future," he said.

He said that Umno was a party that has contributed a lot to the country and the people. 

"I am sure that the grassroots of Umno will continue to be loyal and steadfast in this struggle," he added.

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