Adnan Yaakob refutes Zahid's allegation of Pahang defections

KUANTAN: Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's allegation that there are attempts to woo Pahang Barisan Nasional MPs and assemblymen to defect has drawn a sharp retort from Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob.

The former mentri besar described Dr Ahmad Zahid's statement as random, saying that as far as he knew, neither Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein nor Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin had contacted anyone in Pahang to persuade them to leave Umno.

He advised Dr Ahmad Zahid not to get flustered at a time when Umno was unstable.

"Don't add enemies. I am thinking about my Mentri Besar (Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail) whom I regard as a younger brother.

"I want to say, I do not have that much influence. I was only a mentri besar for 19 years.

"If I were to declare myself as an independent today, a large number of assemblymen would follow me. I am not boasting, the Pahang Barisan government could fall," Adnan said in a message that has gone viral on social media.

However, Adnan said that was not his intention, as he was still a loyal Umno member.

"It is just that Umno does not look fresh," he said.

Dr Ahmad Zahid reportedly said at the Temerloh Umno retreat recently that there were wolves in sheep's clothing in Pahang.

The Umno president claimed there were already meetings with "that person", without naming anyone.

In his message, Adnan admitted that he had met with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad but only on the latter's invitation.

"Before meeting Tun, I informed the Regent and my Mentri Besar. The half-hour meeting with Tun revolved around the future of the Malays.

"I have only met with Tun once. The president met Tun more than once," he said.

Adnan also said there was no need to be a home minister or defence minister just to obtain information.

"Even as a small mentri besar, I could get a lot of information, including confidential ones about the president," he said.

The Pelangai assemblyman added that his message was not written due to feeling the heat.

"I regard the president as a sibling. I have never condemned him even though there are things that he did that I disagreed with.

"My division even chose him as president. The Pekan division chose Tengku Razaleigh," Adnan said.

He gave further advice to be wise and not to create more enemies when support was needed.

"I apologise if the president or anyone else feels offended," he said.

When contacted, Adnan confirmed that he wrote the message in reply to Dr Ahmad Zahid's "wild statement on Pahang".