No Deputy PM candidate chosen in marathon Umno meeting

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By Kalbana Perimbanayagam

October 30, 2020 @ 8:35am

KUALA LUMPUR: No Deputy Prime Ministerial candidate was nominated in a five hour-long Umno Supreme Council meeting at its party headquarters here, last night.

The meeting – chaired by its president, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – it turned out, was held to discuss other matters, and not who should be nominated as Deputy PM, as rumoured.

Media personnel, who began gathering at the party's headquarters at 7pm in anticipation of a DPM candidate announcement, were left disappointed when nothing on the matter was mentioned in the ensuing press statement.

Earlier yesterday, several news reports speculated that the agenda for the meeting would include choosing a Deputy PM candidate for the Perikatan Nasional government.

Berita Harian had reported that there was also speculation that Ahmad Zahid had offered himself for the post in his capacity as party president, to avoid infighting in Umno.

However, some portals had reported that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was gravitating towards naming other leaders for the post.

Among the names touted for the position were Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.