Several Umno leaders meet with PM in Seri Perdana

PUTRAJAYA: Several top Umno leaders held a discussion with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob at his official residence here last night, in what is believed to revolve around the emergency meeting held by the party earlier in the day.

The party leaders, who included division heads, began arriving at Seri Perdana in the late evening.

Although there was no official confirmation on what was discussed, it was largely believed to centre around the timing of the 15th General Election (GE15).

The emergency meeting was said to have focused on holding the GE15 soon.

Ismail Sabri, an Umno vice-president, was not at the earlier meeting due to official engagements.

Among those present at Seri Perdana were vice-presidents Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.

Mahdzir was also believed to be absent from the emergency meeting chaired by party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the Umno headquarters.

Ahmad Zahid was not at the discussion at Ismail Sabri’s residence.

Sources said the Umno leaders wanted to meet Ismail Sabri to learn about his plans for the 15th General Election.

“We want to know what the plan is. There should be something cooking already by now,” said a leader who declined to be named.

The Prime Minister, in his interview with the media in conjunction with his first year in office last week, had said that many considerations needed to be taken into account before calling for the national polls.

While the current Parliament term ends in July next year, Umno has been pushing for the general election to be called as soon as possible.

It is also learnt that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had a separate meeting with Ismail Sabri at Seri Perdana. However, it is uncertain what transpired in the meeting between the two.

The Prime Minister is said to have left Seri Perdana at about 9.15pm.