PETALING JAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan should stop instilling hatred and becoming a dividing agent between his party and Umno, says Shahril Hamdan.

The Umno information chief said that Wan Saiful should instead focus all his efforts to highlight the offers that will be made by his party in the upcoming Johor state polls.

“This is not the first time he has attacked Umno. He has been done this before repeatedly.

“My media response a few weeks back, clearly showed that Bersatu is no longer confident with its own capabilities.

“Such a statement was only made because the Johor state polls are fast approaching,” said Shahril in a statement on Thursday (Feb 3).

He was responding to the comments made by Wan Saiful that Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed as the Prime Minister thanks to Bersatu and not Umno.

Shahril refuted the claim, saying that Ismail Sabri was the sole Prime Minister candidate nominated by Umno from the beginning.

He said both Umno and Barisan Nasional decided to submit Ismail Sabri’s name as their sole candidate to be the Prime Minister during a meeting on Aug 17, 2021.

On allegations that Umno wanted to nominate party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Shahril said out that Wan Saiful clearly did not understand the spirit of musyawarah (consensus) before making a decision.

“In fact, on Aug 16, 2021, the Umno president had issued a statement that he was not interested in naming himself as Prime Minister candidate,” said Shahril, adding that was the reality before the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government.

On another allegation that the Umno’s ‘court cluster’ had triggered the Johor state election, Shahril said that perhaps Wan Saiful had forgotten that Bersatu had previously threatened to withdraw the support for the Johor government during the Melaka state elections.

“In Tan Sri’s (Muhyiddin Yassin’s) words, I press the button now, Johor (state) government falls.”