Kota Kinabalu: The quarrelling among Umno leaders should be stopped immediately, as it could lead to a loss of public confidence, says Barisan Nasional (BN) Treasurer-General Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
Instead, he said, everyone in Umno should focus on closing ranks to bring stability ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15).
The Sembrong Division Umno chief said all party leaders who held positions either in the Government or the party’s Supreme Council should carry out their responsibilities sincerely.
“We will face a general election, the people will determine our position as a government and we (Umno) will also face a party election, and party members will determine the position of the party’s top leadership,” he said.
The Senior Defence Minister said this during a press conference after officiating the Kota Kinabalu Naval Air Station and the setting up of Squadron 503, besides witnessing the handing over of new maritime operations helicopters at the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) Base, here, Friday.
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said rifts in the party leadership did not only occur in Umno or BN, as other political parties also faced a similar situation.
However, he was confident that Umno would handle the matter well based on similar situations faced by the party previously, which had seen greater clashes among its leaders.
“But, it (the clashes in the past) did not affect Umno as a party that the people can count on,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ketereh Umno Division Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the Umno leadership must find a way to harmonise relations in the party, after revelation of the existence of statutory declarations (SD) from Umno MPs to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister.
He said in a situation where the country was facing the issue of the price of goods, Umno should ease the turmoil in the party and focus on strengthening its solidarity and providing services to the people.
“I think now it is good to ease the turmoil, and the leadership should find a way to harmonise the situation.
“From continuing to attack and be critical, may I suggest that someone should take action to deal with this matter, not to wash dirty laundry in public,” he said in Kuala Lumpur.
Annuar, who is the Communications and Multimedia Minister, said this when asked to comment on the revelation of former Umno Supreme Council (MT) member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who is also Pasir Salak Member of Parliament, at a special press conference after being dropped from the Umno MT on June 24.
Asked whether he signed the SD, Annuar said: “I am not involved”.
Meanwhile, Annuar denied that media reports on the 15th General Election (GE15) were discussed at the Cabinet meeting.
“Not true. As the Communications Minister I can answer simply, it is false,” he said.
He said the Cabinet meetings held every week only discussed matters related to the country and the welfare of the people.
