PETALING JAYA: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s decision to work with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has sparked anger among the party’s grassroots in Gua Musang, Kelantan.
The division’s deputy chief, Ab Aziz Yusof, told FMT that Umno members and supporters had adopted a positive attitude towards Tengku Razaleigh’s remarks against the party’s leadership, but were upset with his recent appearance with Mahathir.
“The grassroots are not angry over other issues. They are only angry that Tengku Razaleigh had made a joint statement with Mahathir.
“They have always disagreed with Mahathir, so it really upset them,” said Aziz.
On Dec 14, Tengku Razaleigh, better known as Ku Li, and Mahathir had offered themselves to help lead the nation, claiming that it was currently led by a weak government with an illegitimate prime minister.
Tengku Razaleigh had also urged Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to table a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership submitted by Mahathir.
The relationship between Tengku Razaleigh and Mahathir had turned sour in the 1980s when both were vying for the Umno leadership at the time. It ended with Tengku Razaleigh establishing Semangat 46 after Umno was banned.
Meanwhile, Mahathir formed a new Umno party, which he continued to lead until he left to join the opposition while Tengku Razaleigh returned.
Aziz, who is also the Nenggiri assemblyman, said Tengku Razaleigh was still highly respected in Gua Musang despite rumours that the leader would not defend his parliamentary seat in the next general election.
“It is up to Tengku Razaleigh. We need him as the division head, as long as he is able and healthy, we ask him to continue to be a candidate here because he is capable of uniting the Umno members in Gua Musang.
“Even if he does not wish to contest anymore, we hope he will continue to be our adviser,” he said.
Commenting on some of Tengku Razaleigh’s “controversial” statements in recent days, Aziz said some of them were made in the interest of the party, such as the one that questioned party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s decision to join the Perikatan National (PN) presidential council.
“His criticism of the party’s leadership did not affect the grassroots or cause any splits.
“For us at the grassroots level, we have decided to wait and see (where the leadership stands). We should not be quick to punish, let’s not be confused,” he said.
Last week, Tengku Razaleigh had said he was “embarrassed” over the decision to join the PN presidential coalition, as Umno was not a member of PN.
He said Umno only allowed a few of its members to be part of Muhyiddin’s Cabinet as a move to stabilise the political crisis the country was facing earlier this year.