Ismail Sabri deserves to be UMNO's stalwart in PN - Political analyst

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yakob has proven himself worthy to be the “stalwart” of UMNO in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government in line with his position as the party's senior leader in the government.

Senior Lecturer of the College of Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, said in line with his position as the only senior UMNO minister in the government, Ismail was seen as capable and was bringing the party back to the path of its real struggle.

"Ismail Sabri's courage in criticising the way the 2020 UMNO General Assembly (PAU2020) was held will hopefully open the eyes of party members at the grassroots level on UMNO's current position in the government.

"UMNO needs to change in line with the rapid changes that are taking place in the current political environment and Ismail is well suited to be the leader who catalyzes the change," he said in a statement on Monday.

Ismail Sabri in a video recording at the Bangkit15 programme in Pahang recently classified PAU2020 as the worst general assembly in the party's history.

In fact, he considered that PAU2020 did not achieve its target for supply to the UMNO grassroots ahead of GE15.

Meanwhile, Kamarul Zaman stressed that the courage of the Bera Member of Parliament to comment on the issue had opened the eyes of many on the need for UMNO to hold party elections this year.

"His non-controversial personality and popularity as he appears every day in the mass media to report on the latest developments in the enforcement of COVID-19 control makes him the most suitable figure to be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister if that is considered the best way to stabilize national politics," he said.

Kamarul Zaman had previously said that the post of Deputy Prime Minister from UMNO was able to prevent a three-cornered contest between PN, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

According to him, such contests if not dealt with properly, would only be detrimental to Malay politics post-general election.

Earlier, Seremban UMNO division head, Mustafa Salim, said the party should elect a new president in the election which needs to be held immediately after the end of the emergency period on August 1.

He said the election would resolve the issue of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who had been openly criticised lately by some grassroots members.