03-05-2021, 06:17 PM
PETALING JAYA: Umno’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob may be named as deputy prime minister and general elections called before August if Umno ditches the governing coalition, according to a proposal by a number of PPBM Supreme Council members, a source said.
One source said Parliament was expected to sit in August and PPBM would definitely know Umno’s final stand on its cooperation with Perikatan Nasional (PN) by then.
“By then, we will know whether Umno is still with us or has withdrawn support for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin,” he told FMT.
Due to this, some Supreme Council members have agreed to push for Ismail to be made Muhyiddin’s deputy so he could woo Umno members to support PN before the next general election.
“His role will be to convince Umno members to work with PN. Even Arau MP Shahidan Kassim has agreed to work with the ruling coalition,” he added. Ismail is currently the defence minister.
The source said PN would invite Umno for talks in a month to negotiate seat allocations.
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