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KUALA LUMPUR – Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today denied there was a closed-door meeting yesterday involving Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS leaders at a golf club in Petaling Jaya, near here.
He said matters have been taken out of context, to the extent that he was labelled a “traitor” just for meeting his friends from PAS, while those who met leaders from Pakatan Harapan (PH) were labelled as “heroes”.
“This is incorrect. Since when was there a meeting involving 10 leaders? These are all malicious rumours to tarnish my name.
“Today, we cannot even meet our friends. If we meet anyone from PAS we are considered traitors, meet someone from PH and you become a hero, a saviour of the party. Everyone has gone mad,” he told Malaysiakini.
Rumours about an alleged meeting at the Tropicana Golf and Country Resort, labelled the “Tropicana Move,” were making rounds on social media along with several pictures allegedly taken during the meeting.
Ten leaders from BN and PAS had apparently attended the said meeting.
Apart from Ismail Sabri, the others who attended were Ketereh Umno chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, and former Putrajaya Umno chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz.
Ismail Sabri said he had only attended the farewell ceremony for a former staffer from the Prime Minister’s Department yesterday.
“Instead, there were allegations that I was with BN treasurer-general Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein,” he said, adding that there were also slanderous statements against other Umno leaders such as Khairy Jamaluddin, who was allegedly planning to fight party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“Today, just because we are supporting someone else to form the government and become the prime minister, Umno leaders have begun criticising each other and causing disunity in the party,” Ismail Sabri said.
Rumours are rife that BN has been allegedly divided into two camps – one that supports the unity government with PH and another that does not.
There were also calls before this from within Umno for Zahid to resign as the party president after he sent a letter to the palace stating his support for PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Don’t be paparazzi
Meanwhile, MCA president Wee also denied there was any meeting.
He explained that he had merely gone to the club to have a meal with his friends.
“This is nonsense. I just went for brunch... dim sum with two of my friends at the restaurant at 10am,” he said.
Asked if he had met other leaders, Wee said he bumped into Ismail Sabri who was having breakfast alone.
He said he briefly spoke to Ismail Sabri and walked away, not wanting to bother the former prime minister.
“I did not see anyone else. How was I supposed to know there was a meeting?
“You can check with the management of the club... check the CCTVs. Please... this is privacy. How can someone simply make such allegations?” he asked.
He labelled the person who took the photographs as a paparazzo and called for such actions to be stopped.
“I was not involved in any meeting. I just went to enjoy brunch,” he stressed.
Annuar also denied there was such a meeting.
“Maybe they went to play golf,” he said in a brief reply. – The Vibes, November 26, 2022