KUANTAN: Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s move in signing the Kelantan Declaration last Thursday has given ‘extra power’ to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to continue leading the country and the party.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said this was because Tengku Razaleigh had been one of the country’s great political figures.
“This is not just an ordinary support…this support is from a great political veteran who has a proven track record in Umno,” he told reporters after visiting sales booths at the Eastern Region Small and Medium Industry Carnival at the East Coast Mall here yesterday.
Tajuddin, who is also Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister, said Tengku Razaleigh’s move had definitely come as a shock to certain quarters as he was formerly seen as
having supported former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the conspiracy to oust Najib.
“But, by signing the Kelantan Declaration, it was clear that Tengku Razaleigh has changed his stand in favour of Najib’s leadership,” Tajuddin said.
Tengku Razaleigh, along with 13 other Umno division chiefs in Kelantan, signed the Kelantan Declaration to demonstrate their undivided support for Najib, during a meeting between the Kelantan Umno and Najib at the Parliament building on March 24.
The declaration was later handed to the prime minister by the Kelantan Umno Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. — Bernama