FORMER UMNO information chief Isham Jalil has steadfastly maintained that he will not be returning to the party fold. This comes after news filtered through that UMNO was preparing to welcome back former members and leaders who had resigned or had their memberships annulled.
In a statement on his Facebook page, the former UMNO supreme council member reiterated that he had lost faith in the party under the leadership of its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamdi.
He further claimed that many current as well as former UMNO members share this sentiment while pointing to the recent Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) by-election as proof.
“As we’ve observed in the previous six state elections and by-elections, Malay support for PH/BN (Pakatan Harapan/Barisan Nasional) was low, including that in Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) recently,” contended Isham who was once a special officer to incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Some PH analysts claimed that Malay support for PH/BN has supposedly increased to 30%-40% but this was untrue and illogical because if this is true, then PN would most unlikely able to garner more than 10,000 votes in KKB.”
Isham who was dismissed from UMNO late last year further claimed that the party had lost its grassroots support with its role in the unity government, insinuating it was playing second fiddle to the other components, namely PKR and the DAP.
Arguing that UMNO is no longer recognisable from its original guise and that it has lost sight of its guiding principles, the Harvard educated firebrand went on to claim that “the actual number of active UMNO members could only be 20% of the officially trumpeted 3 million”.
However, Isham’s outburst was met with no small amount of contempt from UMNO supreme council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi.
The Johor state assembly speaker further chided Isham for his self-infatuation (syiok sendiri) and in no uncertain terms, underlined that the latter’s name was never on the list of former members to be invited back into UMNO.
“Isham claimed that UMNO was desperate to recall the sacked leader. He misunderstood the statement of UMNO supreme council member Datuk Jalaluddin Alias,” explained Puad. “UMNO will not persuade and spread the carpet to welcome back those who were fired. Not to mention people like Isham Jalil and others who are incapable to co-exist with others”.
However, Puad noted that UMNO was willingness to accept back former members refers to those who made the appeal such as former Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
“This proposal is to give a second chance to those who remain loyal and still believe in UMNO’s struggle even though their membership has been revoked,” added Puad. – May 29, 2024
