Umno man rubbishes claim on DPM’s post

Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan has denied claims that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob signed an agreement with Perikatan Nasional (PN) to appoint a deputy prime minister from the coalition.

(FMT) – “As far as I know, there is no agreement. If there was one, why are we only hearing about it now?” Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying.

“This has never been announced (before) and never been talked about. PAS is also in PN, and it has never said anything about this. So I believe this is just a claim made up by certain parties.”

Shahril said Ismail, one of Umno’s three vice-presidents, would not have bowed to PN’s demands.

PN chairman and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin first brought up the alleged agreement last Saturday when he said he met Ismail to discuss Cabinet appointments, including the deputy prime minister’s post, as per the agreement.

While the current administration does not have a deputy prime minister, the Cabinet has four “senior ministers”.

Shahril, who is also Ismail’s economic adviser, said a change in administration was untimely considering the current economic situation and the fact that the current Parliament’s term ends next May.

“The Cabinet and the National Recovery Council (MPN) should be helping the prime minister, not pushing for positions,” he said.

Muhyiddin is the MPN chairman.