UMNO should conduct a referendum for the party’s three million members to gauge their stand on the party’s cooperation with DAP, said an UMNO leader.
The Supreme Council member raised this after claiming that his proposal for UMNO to contest on its own in elections reflected the view of the grassroots.
Isham was responding to DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook who had dismissed it as nothing more than a personal view.
However, Isham alleged that the party grassroots wanted UMNO to defend the rights of the Malays, to not follow DAP’s lead in advocating for a “Malaysian Malaysia” and abolish the rights of Malays and the Bumiputera.
“If you want to know exactly what the UMNO grassroots want, you can request the pro-DAP UMNO members to conduct a referendum and ask the three million UMNO members if they want to cooperate with DAP or not,” he wrote on Facebook.
Earlier today (Sept 12), Isham’s suggestion that UMNO contest on its own in the election and distance itself from Pakatan Harapan (PH) was his personal opinion and not that of the party’s.
Loke, who is the Transport Minister, said the suggestion from the UMNO supreme council member was not the party’s official position.
“It was Isham who spoke, not UMNO who spoke. He does not represent UMNO,” Loke was quoted as saying by New Straits Times today (Sept 12).
Yesterday (Sept 11), Isham said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had only ordered the formation of a government with PH, but not to contest in elections as a coalition.
Isham also claimed that several party leaders may find themselves on the chopping block this week, including himself.
“A pro-DAP leader had asked me to resign from my post in the supreme council. I will not resign. I was elected by the grassroots.
“I heard that this week, several more UMNO members will be sacked in the Supreme Council meeting. There are murmurs that my name may also be on the list,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday (Sept 11).
During the DAP national congress on Sunday (Sept 10), Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi made history by becoming the first UMNO president to attend the event.
Addressing the concerns of UMNO, Loke, in his speech, pledged that DAP would also always adopt a moderate approach.
He stressed that DAP is “not a communist but a centre-left party whose struggles and objectives are centred on the Federal Constitution”. – Sept 12, 2023
