UMNO will continue to support leadership of PM Ismail Sabri - Ahmad Zahid

Addressing some 2,680 delegates at the UMNO general assembly here today, UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also asked Ismail Sabri, who is party vice-president, to manage the government well.

"Datuk Seri Ismail, take good care of the government; we give our support to our right honourable Prime Minister. Insya-Allah Tok Mat (deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) and I as well as others (leaders) will take care of the party.

"We will strengthen the party, (while) Tok Mail (Ismail Sabri) strengthens the government ... the government and the party should be on the same wavelength," he said when opening the assembly at the World Trade Centre (WTC) Kuala Lumpur.

Ahmad Zahid said he and all the UMNO delegates would also like to express their appreciation to Ismail Sabri for his announcement that the government is allowing Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to make a special withdrawal of up to RM10,000 from their accounts.

"We are thankful to Allah; the government has finally allowed those eligible to make a one-off withdrawal of RM10,000 from their EPF savings.

"To the prime minister, all the delegates and I would like to say congratulations and well done," he said.

The prime minister announced on Wednesday that the government had decided to allow EPF contributors to withdraw RM10,000 to ease the burden of Keluarga Malaysia (The Malaysian Family) members who are still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ismail Sabri said although it was a difficult decision to make, the green light for the special withdrawal was a middle-of-the-road approach to strike a balance between their current pressing needs and savings for the future.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, said it was felt that there were things which should be improved in the UMNO-led government.

"Although top government leaders come from UMNO, the fact is that UMNO is not the dominant party. Although important policies are not openly opposed, discordant voices are frequently heard behind the scene.

"In fact, certain directives and minutes which are meant for the people's interests have been ignored. Prime Minister, there are screws which should be tightened, clogged drains which must be cleared of garbage," he added.