The Malaysian Insight

AHMAD Zahid Hamidi has told Umno members to follow the party rules when it comes to leadership positions, after Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s revelation of a plan to oust the Bagan Datuk lawmaker as party president.

Zahid said he was not aware of a meeting of top Umno leaders back in 2020 to remove him as party chief. 

“If there are individuals who are not happy with my position as party president, they should go through the proper channel,” Zahid told reporters outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

“We must respect the party’s constitution that when someone is chosen by delegates, and a demand is made (to remove anyone), there are party rules that allow or bar someone from being in that position.” 

Yesterday, Tajuddin said top Umno leaders had gathered to work out a deal to get rid of Zahid as party president as early as 2020.

The Pasir Salak MP said among the leaders present at the meeting held at his house in May 2020 were former prime minister Najib Razak, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan and Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin. 

However, the plan fell through after Mohamad backed out.

Zahid said it was up to Umno members whether they wanted to believe what Tajuddin had said about his leadership and decision. 

“To me, what he has said could be false or have some truth. I leave it to Umno members, especially the grassroots to make their conclusions,” he said.

However, the former deputy prime minister refused to be drawn into the detail whether he had pushed the party’s parliamentarians to sign statutory declarations (SDs) to support PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to become prime minister last year following the collapse of the Muhyiddin Yassin administration. 

Tajuddin has claimed he was “forced” to sign a SD to that effect after Zahid gave him “a sour face” when he stated his disagreement to the move.

“It is supposed to be ‘no Anwar’, ’no DAP’… but I am a living witness, there were SDs signed in support of Anwar to become the prime minister, and letters were sent to the palace,” he told a press conference yesterday to respond to his removal as Umno Supreme Council member last week.  

In March, at the Umno general assembly, Zahid said in his policy speech that Umno would never work with Anwar nor with DAP. 

In October 2020, while Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister after the Sheraton Move that ousted Pakatan Harapan from Putrajaya, a letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong signed by Zahid and Pekan MP Najib Razak went viral on social media. 

Earlier today, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng dismissed Tajuddin’s revelation about Umno’s move to back Anwar for the prime minister’s post. 

He said it is irrelevant to the problems faced by the people now. 

“I don’t think it is relevant to the problems the country is facing now such as inflation and rising prices. So let the people see who is fighting for their own interests,” he added. – June 28, 2022.