Umno isn’t alone: Zahid lauds former EC chairman for GE15 push

KUALA LUMPUR – Umno’s bid to dissolve Parliament soon was not without merit, said its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

In his Facebook post, today, Zahid cited former Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Ab Rashid Ab Rahman after the latter claimed the general election should have been held a long time ago. 

Yesterday, Rashid told The Malaysian Insight that the 15th general election (GE15) is long overdue as the current government is not an elected one and is illegitimate in terms of democracy. 

“We should have held a general election. It should have been done a long time ago,” he was quoted as saying during an interview. 

“They say this is a palace government, that’s right, this is not a people’s government, constitutionally right but this is not an elected government.” 

In response, Zahid today said that the former Electoral Reform Committee chairman’s call signalled that Umno is not alone in its push for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve Parliament.

“(Rashid) stated that the legitimate mandate of democracy should be restored. He also said the government is unstable because there are various characters and parties, which is not good for the country,” he said in a Facebook post. 

“Even those not in Umno want Parliament to be dissolved.” 

Noting that Rashid is the former vice president of Bersatu and a current member of the party, he praised Rashid for honestly stating his stance on the matter based on his 30-odd years of experience with the EC. 

Zahid and other party leaders aligned with him have been pushing for an election to be held soon to capitalise on a weak opposition.  

During the Umno general assembly in March, Zahid had called for GE15 to be expedited, questioning why there is a delay in dissolving Parliament while simultaneously dismissing calls for party polls to be held soon. 

Similar sentiments were expressed during the Barisan Nasional (BN) convention earlier this month when Zahid had rallied delegates to pressure Ismail Sabri to call for a snap general election. 

His repeated demand came just days after Ismail Sabri indicated that the election might not be held anytime soon, citing spiralling food prices and the soaring costs of living as reasons to put off the election. 

Meanwhile, embattled Umno MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman revealed yesterday that he is a “living witness” to statutory declarations signed last year supporting opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as president. 

During the tell-all presser, Tajuddin had also disclosed that there was an internal movement within the party to topple Zahid as the “big boss”, sharing a photo of a high-level meeting that discussed Zahid standing down from leadership duties.  

He revealed that the movement was led by Mohamad Hasan, more commonly known as Tokmat, who colluded with Zahid’s predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak to organise a meeting in May 2020. 

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz later confirmed with The Vibes that he had attended the meeting among senior Umno leaders, noting that those in attendance had discussed Zahid temporarily stepping aside as party president until the disposal of his ongoing trials. – The Vibes, June 28, 2022