Repeated exit threats will lose impact, says Rafizi

SHAH ALAM - Umno has the option and the right to withdraw from the Madani Government if it feels that the issue of a pardon for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak constitutes a red line.

Pandan MP Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli said threats to withdraw from the government were nothing new and that it was the right of every party.

He said previously, DAP had indicated that if administrative reforms did not take place more quickly, the party could withdraw from the Cabinet and the government administration within six months.

“However, if threats to leave are made too often but never carried out, over time such threats in the future will become blunt.

“From my own experience, I do not like making threats. I make decisions early, I set my red lines early.

“If that red line is crossed, I resign. There is no need to threaten, no need to mobilise supporters,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Rafizi recalled that similar signals had previously come from DAP, which had indicated it could withdraw from the Cabinet if administrative reforms did not progress within six months.

His remarks came after Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh publicly urged Umno to withdraw its support from the Madani Government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, arguing that the party would be better off becoming a dignified opposition.

Dr Akmal’s comments were believed to be linked to a post by Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin, who described the court decision related to Najib as “another reason to celebrate” towards the end of the year.

Rafizi said the public would be closely watching whether Umno’s leadership treated Najib’s pardon as a genuine red line.

He further said repeated threats to leave the Madani Government without any follow-through showed that Najib’s pardon was not a red line for those involved.

He added that institutional independence in Malaysia remained intact as long as Najib was treated fairly as a citizen, noting that the former prime minister still had the right to appeal at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

“We will not only follow the decision, we will examine the judges’ reasoning carefully, because the public will draw conclusions on whether there was pressure or interference based on the strength of the judicial reasoning presented.

“So it is up to the political leadership. They can threaten to leave, they can attack each other,” he said.