This comes after Shahril had said the government’s direct financial aid for flood victims would ensure that EPF account holders would not have to withdraw from their retirement savings and miss out on higher annual dividends.

Asyraf said Shahril was commenting on the issue in his capacity as the economic director of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

He said the Umno Supreme Council had decided on Aug 27 that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government must fulfill the people’s demands, including one-off EPF withdrawals of up to RM10,000 through the i-Citra facility.

“Shahril was speaking in his capacity as the economic director of the PMO and it does not represent Umno’s views,” he told FMT.

Shahril appeared to have gone against the party’s stand on EPF withdrawals in his Facebook post on Friday, as he praised the financial aid for flood victims announced by Ismail.

The government’s assistance for flood victims could reach up to RM10,000 for each head of household, while aid for victims whose houses were totally destroyed in the floods could go up to RM61,000.