Anything’s possible, says Umno’s Tajuddin on working with DAP

Umno election director Tajuddin Abdul Rahman today said he would not rule out the coming together of his party with DAP and PKR, amid growing calls from a group led by former leader Najib Razak to quit the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

“Anything is possible in politics,” he told reporters when asked whether Umno would be willing to form an alliance with Pakatan Harapan (PH), the coalition comprising DAP, PKR and Amanah.

The Umno Supreme Council, of which Tajuddin is a member, is expected to meet this Wednesday to discuss repeated calls from party hawks to quit the government.

Tajuddin also took potshots today at Barisan Nasional secretary-general Annuar Musa for rejecting cooperation with PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim and DAP.

“He always says ‘No DAP, No Anwar’, it has become like a ratib (prayer utterance).”

Tajuddin said Umno felt that it was being relegated to irrelevance in the current political setting, which he added was to favour Bersatu.

“This is what we suspect. They want to become big and outsize Umno by giving it junior ministerial posts.”

On Jan 2, Tajuddin, who is among the hawks in Umno who have aired reservations about supporting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, ticked off PAS, accusing it of violating Muafakat Nasional, a charter signed by PAS and Umno in 2019.

The Islamist party has since said it will not leave PN, renewing its commitment to support Muhyiddin.

Tajuddin today said PAS should prioritise its cooperation with Umno, adding that it had resulted in many by-election victories when they were the opposition.

“We are urging PAS to be faithful to us,” he added.

Tajuddin said Umno had backed the PN government led by Bersatu last year as it wanted to have political stability.

“We hoped our contributions would be recognised, but unfortunately (this did not happen).”

When asked if all 39 Umno MPs would support a decision to quit the current government, Tajuddin said only several MPs were needed to switch sides and form the government with PH.