Following UMNO’s surprisingly disappointing results during the 15th General Election, the survival and the future of the party was questioned.
The results saw some prominent former UMNO leaders not being re-elected by the people and led some to quit politics.
Recently, according to a report by Berita Harian, Former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that he is ready to quit mainstream politics after over 3 and a half decades of active involvement.
The UMNO vice-president revealed that he had initially planned his retirement to take place sometime after the 14th general election (GE14), although this did not materialise following his appointment as the head of government in August 2021.
“I planned that if I win in GE14, I would become a minister, following which I would resign from office and appointed as senator. After completing my senatorship, I would immediately quit politics.”
“By right, I had planned to take a rest after GE14, but fate would have it that I become prime minister,” he said.
With the ongoing crisis within UMNO following the party’s worst electoral performance, Ismail Sabri said that GE15 would be his last.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri has been one of the UMNO leaders who is understood to have been critical of some of the party leadership’s recent decisions, including the sacking of party leaders.
He expressed concern that the sackings and suspensions would only lead to a further loss of support for the political outfit.
“The decision to get rid of one team to retain the other will only result in conflict, effectively causing a decline in support. This is why I’m worried about UMNO’s future.”
“There is a lesser number of new members wanting to join UMNO, and existing ones have left. Maybe the situation now is more peaceful because there are no more dissenters, but support for the party is diminishing,” he explained.
What do you think of his decision to quit politics? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: “Unbowed, unbent, unbroken” Khairy Jamaluddin Among Several Leaders Sacked & Suspended By UMNO
