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Will Ismail Sabri Yield to UMNO’s Demands In Order to Be PM if BN Won GE15?
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright March 2022
I have two questions for you. First, will Ismail Sabri really be allowed to continue as PM if BN wins GE15?
Second, would he be allowed to contest the Post of UMNO President if an AGM was convened to choose new office bearers for the party?
In his winding-up address of UMNO General Assembly 2021, Zahid hinted or implied as some newspapers chose to report that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, would be allowed to continue as PM should the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition win in GE15.
Zahid said Ismail would be allowed. By whom?
The impression we got is that it was Zahid alone who had made the decision. He later confirmed by saying that he was never jealous of Ismail because “I was the one who put forth his name… After the supreme council meeting, I told them there is only one candidate that I will nominate, which is Ismail Sabri.”
In fact as if to neutralise his deputy, in the next breath Zahid said “Who knows if Tok Mat’s time will come in GE16?”
That was indeed an indirect endorsement for his deputy. But it was also a signal to Tok Mat to bide his time, not to upset the boat or create a rift amongst party ranks.
Thus by implication, Ismail would then be succeeded by the current Deputy President only after GE16 if it was in the latter’s destiny (rezeki!).
It might also be meant to cool down the deputy who was seen as the one “leading the war cry” urging the party to demand an early GE15 after its successes in Melaka and Johor that left the opposition in complete disarray.
But Tok Mat’s over-enthusiasm was seen by some especially an Exco Member, Nazri as a strong indication that the Deputy too wanted the PM’s post for himself.
Perhaps Zahid was right in making that remark to indicate that he had no objection if it was indeed time for his deputy. But it could also be directed at Nazri who might be seen as jumping to unfair conclusions.
But the tone of Zahid’s speech was to tell everyone in the hall and others outside that he was the one calling the shots. That he was still in charge. Also, maybe he wanted to be seen as a peacemaker between his Deputy aspiring to be PM and his VP the incumbent PM.
However, if UMNO did hold its election would Ismail be “allowed” to run for the post of party president?
I doubt it. More so if Zahid was not in prison. For the moment, it would not be possible to dislodge him because of his stranglehold on supporters.
Further, to convince his followers Zahid told delegates charges were levelled against him and Najib during Tun M’s second tenure as PM because they were reluctant to dissolve UMNO as directed.
That was his justification for all delegates to hear for his 47 charges that were being deliberated in court.
But more importantly, I think, it was an appeal to the incumbent PM. He had allowed Ismail to continue as PM in the forthcoming GE15. But he did not say on what conditions he allowed Ismail to continue.
However, some internal party horse-trading were seldom made explicit in public. This is one of those instances where silence was perhaps preferred.
But didn’t Zahid allow Muhyiddin to be PM after the Sheraton move? Didn’t Zahid also show his displeasure by withdrawing support for Muhyiddin months later? Did he not name Hasni as MB of Johor? But you knew what happened to that.
But at the end of the Umno General Assembly 2021, Zahid’s Deputy issued a statement that sounded more like an ultimatum, “I also ask the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) to please pay attention to this matter. If we wrote to the RoS, no one should obstruct our party’s decision” to postpone the party election to six months after the GE15 is held.
Did you see that coming? It must have dawned on Ismail then that there was a precondition after all for endorsing him as a candidate to be PM after GE15. He had to dance to their tune!
If he allowed UMNO to postpone the party election yet again, maybe then Ismail Sabri would be allowed to vie for the UMNO’s top post. But he would have to challenge Tok Mat the incumbent Deputy who too seem to aspire for the top job.
Anyway, if Ismail did become PM after GM15 as promised, he would be in a better position to stand as a candidate for President of UMNO.
If that indeed happened, it would be seen by all members as most appropriate and in line with tradition since independence where the UMNO president had always helmed the country.
However, at the end of UMNO AGM, Ismail Sabri was just another VP who was allowed by party stalwarts to be the candidate for PM and was expected to be subservient to their wishes.
On the other hand, could a PM make an exception to override RoS and allowed another postponement of UMNO’s party election without a valid reason?
I could see a conflict of interest arising out of this demand. This could be a start to yet another possible confrontation between the Home Affairs and UMNO with PM caught in between.
In any case, you and I have no say in the matter!
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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