HULU SELANGOR: The Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin factor will not affect the strength and unity of the Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery in Johor.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said Johor had always remained a party stronghold as the people see the bigger picture rather than the ambition of a single leader.
“In Johor, history has shown that even the founder of Umno (Datuk Onn Jaafar), when people see the bigger picture, was set aside.
“(Even a similar outcome happened to former deputy prime minister) Tun Musa Hitam.
“So what makes Tan Sri Muhyiddin so special?” asked Muhyiddin in reference to Muhyiddin, who also used to be the Pagoh Umno division chief and former Johor Menteri Besar.
“If we (BN) were worried about Johor, I would not be here in Hulu Selangor today,” he said during a press conference at the sidelines of a Jalinan Kasih (meet-the-people) programme at Teratai Apartment, Taman Bunga Raya, Bukit Beruntung here, today.
On Aug 26 1951, Onn - who founded Umno - left the party due to differences with the party leadership, and formed the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).
However, IMP failed to enough public support, leading to him leaving it to form Parti Negara.
In 1987, Musa resigned as deputy prime minister, citing irreconcilable differences with then prime minister and Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
In June 2016, Muhyiddin’s criticism of Umno led to his sacking by the party’s Supreme Council.
Muhyiddin is defending the Pagoh parliamentary seat, as well as contesting the Gambir state seat, in Johor.
Today, Hishamuddin said that regardless of what Muhyiddin tries to do, Johor Umno and BN machinery would not take things for granted and still work hard for the people.
In regards to the Hulu Selangor BN machinery, he said that the dream team within the constituency ensued equal representation of people from all walks of life here.
He also noted that the party machinery here enjoys strong cooperation between all BN component parties.
Also present were BN candidates for the 14th General Election (GE14) - Datuk P. Kamalanathan (Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat), Datuk Rosni Sohor (Hulu Bernam state seat), Datuk Wong Koon Mun (Kuala Kubu Bharu state seat), and Datuk Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan (Batang Kali state seat).