KUALA LUMPUR – Former Selangor Umno chief Tan Sri Noh Omar has questioned the necessity for the party to express gratitude to its unity government partner DAP, pointing to a previously alleged plot to remove the multiracial party from government.
Campaigning for Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the lead up to the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, Noh accused Umno of compromising its “dignity” by aligning with DAP, which was its staunch adversary prior to the current government’s formation in late 2022.
Reflecting on past events, Noh recounted a meeting with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his second tenure in Putrajaya during the initial Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
“Where is Umno’s dignity? What has DAP done to prompt the Umno president (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) to say that Umno must thank DAP for its services?” Noh queried during a PN ceramah in Kuala Kubu Baharu last night.
“We (Noh and other Umno representatives) met (Dr Mahathir) when Umno was in the opposition, and he told us that we must find a way for DAP to be the opposition.
“When we asked him if he was willing to bring down his own administration, (Dr Mahathir) said that it’s okay if I’m not prime minister as long as DAP is part of the opposition,” he alleged.
Noh also poured scorn over Umno’s apparent willingness to allow DAP to field its candidate in the Kuala Kubu Baharu poll, saying: “Have some shame. It’s a good thing that I’m not part of Umno anymore. If you were to ask me to carry DAP’s flag, I wouldn’t do it.”
Commenting on MCA’s decision not to campaign for DAP’s candidate, 31-year-old Pang Sock Tao, Noh said that he commends the BN component party’s call as one that exemplifies its honour.
“(Zahid), this (Kuala Kubu Baharu) used to be an MCA seat. Suddenly, he (Zahid) made a decision without discussing it with MCA, (as if) MCA had no dignity. I salute them (MCA) for not coming down to campaign for DAP.”
Also present at the ceramah last night were PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Selangor PN chief Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, and Bersatu Srikandi chief Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.
Kuala Kubu Baharu, a former MCA stronghold, has been a DAP seat for the last three elections since 2013, when DAP’s Lee Kee Hiong won it by beating her rival from BN by more than 1,700 votes.
Lee defended the seat in the 2018 general election, again beating the closest contender, MCA, by 7,134 votes.
In the state elections in August last year, Lee beat the PN candidate from Gerakan by 4,119 votes to win the seat for the third time. Other contenders last year were a candidate from Muda and one from Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which is also taking part in the upcoming election.
The seat, which is one of the three state seats under the Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituency, was declared vacant following Lee’s death on March 21.
With a PN candidate from PAS winning in Hulu Selangor for the first time during the 2022 general election, the coalition now holds the two other state seats under the parliamentary constituency.
Voters will head to the polls on May 11 in a four-cornered fight involving Pang, Bersatu’s Khairul Azhari Saut, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Hafizah Zainudin, and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin. – May 1, 2024