PETALING JAYA: Khairy Jamaluddin says Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam's proposing to appoint Datuk Seri Najib Razak as de facto leader and opposition leader must be fake news.
"Do not spread fake news. No one will propose a dumb suggestion such as this. I am confident that @LokmanAdam too will not be dumb like this. Eh," the former Umno youth chief tweeted on Wednesday (Dec 19).
Lokman had earlier today urged the party to appoint Najib as the de facto leader and opposition leader after Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced his decision to go on leave.
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He said the appointment was crucial to ensure Umno's stability as more than half of Umno members who voted for Dr Ahmad Zahid as president would not accept deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan's leadership.
Lokman said Mohamad Hasan had never defended Dr Ahmad Zahid when the latter was attacked by those pressuring him to step down.
The Umno president announced his decision to step aside as Umno president late Tuesday night (Dec 18) after pressure mounted for hims to resign following an exodus of Umno elected representatives, leaders and party members from the party.
Calls for the Bagan Datuk MP to step aside or to take leave from his post had been made by several leaders in the party, including Khairy, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
Dr Ahmad Zahid is currently facing a total of 46 charges – 11 counts of CBT involving RM20,833,733.69, eight graft charges amounting to RM21,250,000 and 27 money laundering charges amounting to RM72,063,618.15.
