KUALA LUMPUR :UMNO leaders have begun to speak up after a letter purportedly stating their president supporting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the new prime ministerial candidate, went viral.

In a latest development, Member of Parliament (MP) for Sembrong Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has stressed that he had never supported the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president as Prime Minister.

"As Ahmad Zahid had said, he cannot stop MPs from supporting Anwar.

"But if the letter is true, I did not get the information, and this is not my stand (supporting Anwar) as an UMNO MP.

"I would like to state firmly that I do not support Anwar as Prime Minister," he said in an entry on his Twitter page, on Saturday.

In the same update, the former UMNO vice-president reiterated his stance that he consistently rejected Anwar and DAP.

Earlier, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin also informed that if the letter was true, it clearly did not represent his position.

Earlier, in a letter dated October 11, 2020, which was allegedly sent by Ahmad Zahid himself to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the MP for Bagan Datuk allegedly said that the support was also supported by UMNO MPs.

Apart from the name and signature of Ahmad Zahid as the sender, the letter was also seen to have the signature of Pekan Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as a witness to the declaration.

However, two hours ago, UMNO vehemently denied the letter and asked all parties not to be deceived by the fake letter.