KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Umno man Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has today labelled leaders from the party’s Selangor chapter as PAS "cows” following the dismissal of the state Barisan Nasional (BN) information chief Isham Jalil, which the former alleged was meant to placate the Islamists.
Nur Jazlan claimed in a statement that Isham, reportedly a strong supporter of former prime minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak, was scapegoated in a political scheme meant to preserve relations with PAS in Selangor.
"For the sake of regaining power in Selangor, the state BN chapter was willing to be turned into cows by PAS just because it wants to continue cooperating under Muafakat Nasional,” the Umno leader wrote.
"As a result, the Selangor BN information chief Isham Jalil was sacrificed by his own party as he was dismissed from the post effective immediately,” he added.
Isham announced his dismissal through a Facebook post on June 8. He said the official reason given by the state chapter was that the post does not exist in the coalition’s constitution.
Nur Jazlan, who is Johor Umno deputy chief, ridiculed the explanation and alleged that the real motive was political.
"To me even if the post is not in the BN constitution, why can’t they just ask Isham to resign nicely instead of using the sacking approach. But many people believe that the real reason behind the dismissal is tied to politics.
"BN, especially Selangor Umno, is trying too hard to appease PAS so they could preserve their cooperation under Muafakat Nasional (MN) supposedly in a bid to recapture the state in the 15th general election.”
Isham was sacked as a message to PAS that Selangor Umno is serious about keeping ties between them intact, Nur Jazlan claimed, but stopped short of explaining the alleged link between Isham’s dismissal and Umno’s relations with PAS.
MN is the political pact reached between Umno and PAS following BN’s defeat at the 14th general election, ostensibly as an attempt to consolidate as the opposition at the time.
While Umno has not officially severed ties with the Islamists, most of its top leaders have publicly suggested that MN is dead.
The party’s Selangor chapter, however, is reportedly still keen to keep PAS as an ally because it would still have to rely on the Islamists to bolster chances of recapturing the state as it has remained under Pakatan Harapan rule since 2008.
"Only Selangor BN/Umno is so desperate to keep MN alive when Umno’s central leadership, other state chapters and grassroots members have rejected the pact,” Nur Jazlan said.
"It’s so obvious that the unity and leadership in Selangor Umno is so weak that they are willing to be subservient to PAS,” he added.
