KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied involvement in the so-called “Langkah Dubai,” a political move by the opposition and certain Barisan Nasional (BN) figures aimed at toppling the Madani government.
Ismail Sabri, who is also a former Umno vice-president, asserted that he had no knowledge of the move, which was supposedly hatched during a recent vacation undertaken by Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders and government officials to the United Arab Emirates.
“I don’t know whether or not there is such a move. I am not involved and I didn’t go to Dubai,” the Bera MP reportedly told several media outlets today.
“I was in Mecca and Medina with my family performing umrah and I returned to Kuala Lumpur on December 31 at around 1am. So, how could I have been involved in the meeting in Dubai if I was not in Dubai?”
Yesterday, Ismail Sabri’s special officer, Affifi Aris, took to Facebook to urge against connecting his boss with “fairytale theories,” reiterating that the ex-prime minister had boarded a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur without stopping anywhere else after performing his umrah.
In the post, Affifi shared several photos and clips of Ismail Sabri meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also BN chairman and Umno president, after congregational prayers at Medina’s Masjid Nabawi.
Around this time last year, Ismail Sabri denied allegations linking him to a similar political move dubbed “Langkah London.”
He said then that he was vacationing with his family in Abu Dhabi and Dubai when the rumoured meeting in London supposedly took place between opposition figures.
Last Friday, Community Communications Department Deputy Director-General Datuk Ismail Yusop claimed that Langkah Dubai was a movement backed by PN and several other influential figures to bring down Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.
He also said that besides PN leaders, former two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his right-hand man Tun Daim Zainuddin were in cahoots with the opposition and using “foreign and local sources” to carry out their agenda through the move.
“It looks like Dr M (Mahathir), Daim, PN and their associates are engaging all their resources (from) within and outside the government to bring about (Anwar’s) downfall. They’re going all out (and) are in attack mode.”
The Umno Supreme Council’s Datuk Lokman Noor Adam later told Scoop that Daim, who is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for graft and money laundering, was said to be willing to fork out hundreds of millions of ringgit to “buy over” government MPs.
“There are allegations saying that Daim is willing to spend RM750 million to buy over 15 (government) MPs. Daim is with (Dr) Mahathir. Both of them are very desperate. Neither of them want to go to jail or be part of the court cluster,” Lokman said. – January 1, 2024