Annuar Musa today dismissed talk that several Umno lawmakers will be joining opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who has claimed to have sufficient parliamentary support to form the government.
The Umno Supreme Council member said the party leadership had yet to discuss the latest political intrigue in the nation that has caught the attention of the international press.
Annuar, who is also Barisan Nasional secretary-general, revealed that Umno and PAS will convene their regular bi-weekly meeting next week but insisted this was not expressly held for Anwar’s claim.
“We have our regular meeting which is every two weeks between Umno and PAS organised by the Muafakat Nasional (MN) secretariat of which I am joint secretary-general.
“We are going to have our next meeting on October 7 to have some discussion, but not specifically on the issue of Anwar’s claim.
“So far, Anwar’s claim has never been brought up. It has never been discussed in Umno, at the party level we don’t know anything,” he told reporters during a press conference.
Today, Annuar also denied rumours that several Umno MPs were defecting, saying he confirmed this after personally calling each one of them.
“I have got some list of Mr so-and-so is going to support Anwar but when I called them, everybody denied.
“So, I’m still quite puzzled with the claim. I even spoke to the (party) president, maybe very much on an individual level but certainly not on a party level,” he said, stressing that Umno has no intention to discuss the issue as it has nothing to do with the party’s decision.
He also called for an end to “excessive politicking”, saying this was an unneeded distraction to the country that was in a pandemic.
“As far as national politics is concerned, it is important to continue our focus on combating Covid-19 but at the same time pay attention in making sure our economy continues growing to recover the impact of the prolonged movement control order.
“We must work towards national unity, in that cooperation between political parties within government and outside where national interest comes first,” he said.