612 1 0 729
Sacked minister drops Najib, opts for Muhyiddin instead
Shafie Apdal cancels invitation to party president to open the Semporna Umno division assembly
PETALING JAYA: An invitation to Umno President Najib Razak to officially declare the Semporna Umno division assembly open has been cancelled by its vice-president Shafie Apdal.
A source told The Malaysian Insider, that the party’s Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin has been invited instead.
Both Shafie and Muhyiddin were sacked from Najib’s Cabinet last week for openly criticising the PM for his handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy and the USD700 million that was allegedly deposited into his private bank accounts ahead of the 13th general election.
Efforts to seek confirmation about the cancelled invitation have proven futile with Shafie’s officer merely telling the news portal, “Just wait till August 15”, the date of the assembly.
It was however learnt that the invitation to Najib was made ahead of the July 28 Cabinet reshuffle that saw Shafie sacked as Minister of Rural and Regional Development and Muhyiddin sacked as deputy prime minister. Several others got the chop as well.
Meanwhile, approximately 200 loyal supporters from Umno showed up to greet Shafie when he arrived at the Kota Kinabalu airport yesterday, with loud cheers and banners pledging their support for him.
