KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Perikatan Nasional ministers who petitioned the Yang diPertuan Agong to reject a general election this year only did so because they want to stay in power, Umno president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi claimed today.
He also said some among them were political defectors who were afraid there would be a reckoning for their betrayal, in veiled reference to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders who were previously part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
“They know they will be punished by their own voters. They declared it was for the voters’ sake and for their party. But when they won, they jumped to another party.
“They will betray for the sake of political gain, standing, and positions. Those who hopped parties and secured ministerial posts have now come to realise that their chances of winning are slim,” Zahid said on Facebook.
While he did not name the individual leaders, he appended a news report of a dozen PN ministers writing to ask the Agong not to dissolve Parliament this year.
The Umno president also said it was imperative for Barisan Nasional to keep the initiative by triggering the general election now, instead of being forced into one when its so-called allies withdraw support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is from Umno.
Umno and BN are nominally allied with PN as they are part of the informal bloc currently governing the country, but both coalitions treat each other as political rivals and are set to clash in GE15.
Earlier today, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man of PAS confirmed that 12 PN ministers wrote to the Agong this week to register their disagreement with calling a general election this year due to the heightened risk of floods in the country.
