{"id":16047,"date":"2023-01-10T19:49:34","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=16047"},"modified":"2023-01-10T19:49:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:49:36","slug":"well-back-anwar-if-my-allies-or-i-become-umno-president-says-kj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=16047","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ll back Anwar if my allies or I become Umno president, says KJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Singapore\/KL, Jan 10<\/strong> &#8212; Khairy Jamaluddin says Umno will continue supporting the Anwar Ibrahim-led government if he or his allies become the party\u2019s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iseas.edu.sg\/rof2023\/\">Regional Outlook Forum 2023<\/a> organised by Singapore\u2019s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Khairy said he wanted Anwar\u2019s government to last and remain stable, adding that he did not support \u201cback room machinations\u201d for a change in the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The forum in Singapore was also attended by transport minister and DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThere are concerns that if there\u2019s a change in Umno\u2019s leadership, it will bring about political instability that will lead to the collapse of the government, another Sheraton Move, and another government will come in and a new prime minister (will be) sworn in.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-1024x633.png\" alt=\"president\" class=\"wp-image-16048\" width=\"523\" height=\"323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-1024x633.png 1024w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-768x475.png 768w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-162x100.png 162w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-350x216.png 350w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-800x495.png 800w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png 1462w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 523px) 100vw, 523px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cLoke, I want to say this clearly in front of all these people here: if I or my allies win the presidency, win the leadership of my party, we will commit our support to the unity government, to Anwar and to you,\u201d<\/em> he said, drawing applause from the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khairy said Umno\u2019s upcoming party elections were \u201c<em>everything<\/em>\u201d, adding that it would either be for Umno to be reformed, obtain relevance, <em>\u201cor it\u2019s rest in peace\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the party elections were Umno\u2019s chance to chart a new course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Umno\u2019s Supreme Council has yet to decide on whether the posts of president and deputy president should be contested in the party elections. The party must hold its elections within six months after the conclusion of GE15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khairy reiterated that any change in Umno\u2019s leadership should not result in political instability, otherwise it would be used as political fodder against the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c(There will be) no change in government, no change in prime minister (if my allies or I become Umno president),\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cMaybe a change in a deputy prime minister,\u201d<\/em> he quipped, drawing laughter from the crowd. He is believed to be alluding to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former Umno Youth chief used to be a three-term Rembau MP, but contested for the Sungai Buloh seat, deemed a Pakatan Harapan stronghold, in the 15th general election (GE15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ex-health minister lost the seven-way contest for the seat, losing to PH\u2019s R Ramanan, who is from PKR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khairy was among the Umno leaders who had called on Zahid to resign as Umno president following Barisan Nasional\u2019s disastrous outing in GE15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khairy had vied for the Umno presidency in 2018 after BN fell from power, but was defeated by Zahid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/\">NMT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Singapore\/KL, Jan 10 &#8212; Khairy Jamaluddin says Umno will continue supporting the Anwar Ibrahim-led government&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[524,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","category-politics"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",1462,904,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-300x185.png",300,185,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-768x475.png",640,396,true],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM-1024x633.png",640,396,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",1462,904,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",1462,904,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",1280,791,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",1024,633,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-7.45.51-PM.png",720,445,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?cat=524\" rel=\"category\">Nation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?cat=15\" rel=\"category\">Politics<\/a>","tag_info":"Politics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16049,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16047\/revisions\/16049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}