Zahid admitted he had been informed about the Umno assemblymen’s plans earlier on but said this was a decision made by the state chapter.

“That decision was a state chapter decision, (but) the final decision comes from me,” he told reporters at Umno’s headquarters here this evening.

The Umno president said the party typically respects the decisions made by its state chapters, but this particular issue would be discussed by the Umno political bureau and Supreme Council.

He said the BN and Umno leaderships would look into various aspects, including the political implications and the next steps.

“I will meet (the 14 assemblymen) soon to obtain an explanation on this development.”

The Umno president also said he would meet Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Pakatan Harapan chairman, soon to discuss the issue.

Asked if this would affect BN and PH’s ties at the federal level, Zahid simply said: “We will look into all aspects, including this.”

Met by reporters at a separate event, Anwar sidestepped queries and said: “We will announce (updates) later.”

PH and BN contested in the 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election as allies, with Anwar’s coalition winning 17 seats and BN 14.

Earlier today, all 14 Umno assemblymen announced that they had withdrawn support for Aminuddin as menteri besar.

Rumours are swirling that state BN chief Jalaluddin Alias is being proposed as Aminuddin’s successor with the backing of Perikatan Nasional’s five assemblymen, who earlier stated their willingness to form a new state government with BN.