Muafakat Nasional meeting at PWTC cancelled after NSC's advice, says Annuar Musa

KUALA LUMPUR: A meeting by Muafakat Nasional, comprising Umno and PAS, which is expected to discuss current political developments has been cancelled.

Muafakat Nasional joint secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the meeting at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) on Monday night (Oct 19) was cancelled upon the National Security Council’s (NSC) advice.

“There are those who attended but it was cancelled upon NSC’s advice,” he told reporters in a brief text message.

It was believed that those attended were Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Umno Wanita chief Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad and PAS Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh among others.

The meeting was expected to deliberate the current political developments following Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s claim that he has enough support to form the next government.

Speculation was also rife that the meeting is set to deliberate Muafakat Nasional’s cooperation with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) amid an ongoing riff with the party.

Umno is expected to present a list of demands, which included the deputy prime minister position and several key Cabinet positions, to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said Umno’s demands will be sent in writing to Muhyiddin after its supreme council meeting on Tuesday (Oct 20).

However, the Umno supreme council meeting in Janda Baik, Pahang on Tuesday has been postponed to a later date due to the conditional movement control order (MCO) and the spike in Covid-19 cases.

The series of political twists stemmed from Anwar’s audience with the King on Oct 13 where the PKR president said he had presented statutory declarations and several documents in support of his bid to be premier.