We discussed many things with Dr M, clarifies Umno’s No. 2
This follows Mahathir’s response today that he met the Umno leaders as they wanted to leave the party.
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan today affirmed that a meeting between Umno leaders and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last October had indeed touched on the subject of Umno members leaving the party.
However, Mohamad said at the same meeting, they had spoken on the possible merger of Umno and PPBM, which is chaired by the prime minister.
“We discussed many things, including a merger between PPBM and Umno,” he told FMT.
“I don’t deny we spoke about leaving the party, but we also spoke on a variety of topics, of interest to the Malays and Islam.”
When asked whether he intended to leave the party, the former Negri Sembilan menteri besar replied: “I never said that. I will never leave Umno. I will remain with Umno.”
Mohamad was asked to respond to comments made today by Mahathir, who said the Umno leaders had come to seek his advice as they wanted to leave the party.
This followed a photo of a meeting by Mahathir with Umno leaders, including Mohamad, going viral on social media.
Others in the picture included former Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin, Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar.
Yesterday, when asked about the photo, Mohamad had denied that it was an attempt to jump ship following the exodus of Sabah Umno leaders on Wednesday.
He said the meeting was only to get clarification about the prime minister’s statement in New York threatening to “disband Umno”.
When asked further on the proposed merger today, Mohamad said it arose out of a concern for Malays and Islam.
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“If both parties can merge, it will be good,” he said, adding that he however disagreed with Umno being disbanded.