SHAH ALAM – The revelations made by Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman would not pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve the Parliament to allow the 15th General Election (GE15) to be held sooner than expected.
However, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) Senior Fellow Professor Madya Dr Azmi Hassan claimed that the revelations made by Tajuddin would impose a negative impact on Ismail Sabri, based on their allegedly tight relationship especially during the Pasir Salak MP’s appointment as the new Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia recently.
Dr Azmi also saw that the pro-Umno president group would not withdraw their support against Ismail Sabri in the near future following Tajuddin’s exposure as it was not politically strategic for the time being.
"If Umno withdrew their support from Ismail Sabri because of Tajuddin’s disclosure, it is not a strong reason and impacted the party negatively if they did so.
"The impact of Tajuddin’s exposure on Umno was minimum, so they don’t have to pull a drastic measure to the point where they withdraw their support on Keluarga Malaysia’s government ruled by Ismail Sabri in the near future,” he told Sinar Premium.
Previously, Tajuddin who was the Umno Supreme Council former member confirmed the existence of the SD from Umno MPs to support Port Dickson MP as the Prime Minister and that he was a witness who had also signed the SD, even though he initially objected the party’s proposal.
Dr Azmi further explained that the outcome of the revelation by Tajuddin only minimally affected Zahid and Umno, as what was claimed by the Pasir Salak MP was not a secret but well-known to the public.
However, Dr Azmi said he believed that Tajuddin would be heavily impacted in a negative way as the Pasir Salak MP was the next Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia.
"As a diplomat, Tajuddin is not supposed to disclose the secret and the incompetent side of his party’s leadership to the public when it eventually will affect his reputation and credibility as Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia.
"Hence, I see the negative impact of the revelation made by Tajuddin is more on his side compared to Zahid Hamidi as Umno’s President,” he said.
Dr Azmi explained Tajuddin’s exposure brought a negative impact on the group that preferred Zahid to step down from Umno previously, which included former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Ismail Sabri himself.
"As we all know, there are many Umno political leaders who urged Zahid to step down due to his current court case. Hence, Tajuddin’s action was not bringing him any good but negative due to Tajuddin’s own negative stigma.
"When outsiders and Umno members heard Tajuddin’s exposure last Monday, they became cynical because the Pasir Salak MP had once brought negative exposures to himself when he was Prasarana Negara Berhad’s Chairman, when he released a statement that he wasn’t supposed to,” he said.
Therefore, Dr Azmi affirmed Umno should not dismiss Tajuddin as he was no longer in the position to influence the party.
He added that there was no need for Zahid who is also the Bagan Datoh MP to react to the claim as other individuals would answer for him.