We did meet Dr M but not to jump ship, says Umno No. 2

(FMT) – Umno deputy president Mohamad Hassan has admitted to a meeting between party leaders and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but denies that it was an attempt to jump ship following the exodus of Sabah Umno leaders yesterday.

This comes in the wake of a picture which went viral today, showing Mahathir with senior Umno leaders and former ministers including Mohamad, former party secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin, Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar.

Also seen in the photo is Yahya Jalil, the owner of Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd, the company contracted to build the infamous RM1.1 billion “crooked bridge”, proposed by Mahathir in Johor’s waters which was axed in 2006.

Mohamad, the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, said the meeting in October 2017 was only to get clarification about the prime minister’s statement in New York threatening to “disband Umno”.

“That’s why I went to see (Mahahthir), so I could get clarification from Tun and ask Tun not to disband Umno,” he told FMT.

PPBM Supreme Council member A Kadir Jasin, who previously said up to 40 Umno MPs would soon leave the party, confirmed that the meeting with these Umno leaders took place last October.

“It took place on Oct 22 at the request of the individuals in the picture,” Kadir, who is special adviser to the prime minister on media and communications, said in a Facebook post with the viral picture attached.

On Sept 27, Mahathir told a meeting with the US Council on Foreign Relations that Umno would collapse, saying there was no future for the party.

“Umno is fragmented now, it is going to collapse. There is no future for Umno anymore because the people detest Umno.

“That is why they supported the opposition so strongly (in the recent general election),” he reportedly said.

Kadir said although “there must be” Umno leaders expecting the meeting to be some sort of “lifeline” to escape from being tried in court, the reality was that this would not happen.

“On Nov 15, Adnan Mansor was charged in court with corruption,” he said, referring to charges of corruption against the former federal territories minister related to the sale of several pieces of land in Kuala Lumpur.

“Meeting the prime minister is a normal thing, entering the party is also a normal thing, but a crime is still a crime,” Kadir added.

Meanwhile, Mohamad rejected speculation that he would follow in the footsteps of several other Umno leaders and leave the party.

“I am Umno deputy president. I am still with Umno. No talk of leaving Umno,” he said.

Yesterday, 36 elected representatives, senators and division heads in Sabah announced they were leaving Umno, effectively crippling the party’s state chapter which was established in 1991.

The announcement was made by Sabah Umno chief and Sulaman assemblyman Hajiji Mohd Noor, who quit the party to become an independent and pledged full support for Mahathir’s government, along with the rest of the group.

Apart from Hajiji, the other Umno assemblymen who quit were Musbah Jamli (Tempasuk), Japlin Akin (Usukan), Ghulam Haidar Khan Bahada (Kawang), Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif (Membakut), Isnin Aliasnih (Klias), Matbali Musbah (Lumadan), Masidi Manjun (Karanaan), Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan (Apas).

The MPs meanwhile are Abdul Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Azizah Mohd Dun (Beaufort), Ronald Kiandee (Beluran) and Zakaria Mohd Edris (Libaran).

They were joined by two senators, Penampang Umno chief John Ambrose and Pensiangan Umno chief Ghani Yassin.

Senior state party leaders including Sabah Umno information chief Pandikar Amin Mulia and Supreme Council member Salleh Said Keruak had quit the party earlier.