‘The next move is yours’: Umno tells DAP to talk, not threaten, amid Najib pardon row

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Umno has urged DAP to resolve its differences with coalition partners through dialogue and consultation, instead of issuing public ultimatums or demanding resignations, following the controversy over Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s conditional pardon.

Umno information chief Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, described DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo’s call for Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign if he did not support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership, as regrettable and unhelpful to the unity government’s stability.

“Issuing public ultimatums to the president of a coalition partner is neither constructive nor consistent with the spirit of the Coalition Agreement,” she said in a statement today.

Azalina, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), said the agreement did not require coalition partners to agree unconditionally with every political position taken by the prime minister or other political leaders.

She outlined four options for DAP, including invoking the agreement’s mediation mechanism, allowing existing arrangements to continue or seeking a review of the agreement. 

She said terminating it would ultimately point towards the dissolution of Parliament, as it contained no provision for termination before the end of the 15th Parliament.

On Najib’s conditional pardon, Azalina said the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution should not be portrayed as a unilateral political decision by any party.

She also defended Umno’s continued participation in the unity government, saying the party would honour its commitments, respect Anwar’s leadership and uphold the Federal Constitution.

“We have made our position clear. The next move is yours,” she said.