Anwar: Tok Mat will not be the next Umno chief due to 'conspiracy' among party leaders

SEREMBAN: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says that Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan will not be the next Umno president, claiming there is some "conspiring" among party leaders.

The PKR president said this was because certain Umno leaders had started being friendly towards him as he is in line to become the eighth prime minister after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"People ask me how to fight Mohamad as he is the Umno acting president. I was in Umno for a long time. I don't think he will be president.

"That's how I see it, from my political understanding. Umno members came to meet me – this is politics.

"They think that they have to be friendly with Anwar because after this, Anwar will become the prime minister, so they want to get 'insurance'," said the Port Dickson MP in an event with residents of Kampung Segga Hilir near here on Sunday (April 7).

Anwar, who did not name anyone in his speech, said that they met in secret.

"On the ground they say: 'We are of Umno and PAS lineage' but secretly, they came to negotiate with me. So don't be influenced, the ones at the top are conspiring," he said.

Anwar added that he could not divulge any further details about the meeting.

"Because that person trusts me, it's a secret and I can't spill it," he said.

He added that there were concerns among Rantau folk that Pakatan Harapan candidate Dr S. Streram would not be able to rival Mohamad, a three-term Rantau assemblyman.

However, Anwar was confident that Dr Streram, an anesthesiologist, would be the best choice for Rantau folk as he would bring in new leadership after Mohamad's 15-year hold on the constituency.

The polling day for the Rantau by-election has been set for April 13, with early voting to be held on April 9.