THE cracks in Umno over its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s leadership are becoming more apparent than ever.

In the three days since Zahid’s 14-day ultimatum to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to call for a parliament sitting, various Umno leaders have disputed the decision. 

All this points to real threats to Zahid’s authority and grip on Umno, said political analysts.

“Going back to the 2018 party elections, Zahid won only 99 of 190 divisions to become president,” said Ilham Centre’s Hisommudin Bakar.

“This means he only had 52% of the divisions’ support and that 48% did not support him.”

Hisommudin said Zahid only won because the votes were split between Khairy Jamaluddin (61) and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (30).

As such, it is unsurprising to see Zahid challenged from all corners of his own party, said the pollster.

Zahid announced the 14-day “ultimatum” on June 21 after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree that Parliament should convene “as soon as possible”. It is, however, a proposal by the Umno political bureau and not its party’s highest decision-making body, the Supreme Council. 

Two days later, Umno veteran and Padang Rengas MP, Nazri Aziz, told the Malay-language daily Sinar Harian that he had collected statutory declarations (SDs) from 25 out of 39 Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to support unelected Umno leader Hishammuddin Hussein.

Nazri said that the SDs were not so much about toppling the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, but were aimed at stopping Zahid from representing Umno’s 35 MPs in supporting Anwar Ibrahim and a new government.

While Nazri’s criticisms of Zahid are not new, Nazri’s act of gathering SDs is the first time any Umno leader has turned verbal threats into action and admitted it publicly.

Prior to Nazri, other Umno veterans such as Annuar Musa and Shahidan Kassim had only criticised Zahid for allegedly making unilateral decisions to support Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister. 

This goes back to October 2020, when a letter bearing Zahid and BN adviser Najib Razak’s signatures to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was shared widely. The letter, stating support by Umno MPs for Anwar as the next prime minister, was later denied and called a fake.

Nazri had also called for Zahid’s resignation as Umno’s head after a leaked telephone conversation, purportedly of the party president and Anwar, emerged in early April. In the clip, the voices of Zahid and Anwar are heard congratulating each other over Umno’s recently concluded annual general assembly and plans to quit the PN government.

On Wednesday, another fissure appeared, when party vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Umno and BN lawmakers will not vote against Muhyiddin if a no-confidence vote is taken in Parliament. This indirectly opposes Zahid in any attempt to topple the (PN) government. 

Zahid’s tenability 

“Support for Zahid in Umno is not as strong as that for his predecessors,” said Hisommudin.

He added the Bagan Datuk MP’s situation is made worse by pending corruption cases against him and his lack of a government post.

Political analyst Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff questioned Zahid’s ability to lead if he cannot garner sufficient support from the Umno Supreme Council.

The Universiti Utara Malaysia academic said Nazri’s call for Zahid to be hauled up before the party disciplinary committee is very telling and embarrassing.

“Granted that it may not happen, considering Zahid controls many of the disciplinary committee’s members, but this episode has severely dented his credibility,” said the political science lecturer.

Kamarul said that Nazri and Ismail Sabri’s statements all point to Zahid having lost control of Umno.

“Zahid will be severely tested if Umno holds its party elections this year. And if not, this open challenge may force Zahid to rethink his own position,” he said.

Hisommudin believes that Zahid’s political survival now hinges on former president Najib. The former prime minister, convicted and appealing his SRC International corruption case while facing other charges over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, remains a vocal critic of the PN government.

“Up against a group that includes Shahidan, Hishammuddin (Hussein), Nazri, Ismail Sabri and Annuar, Zahid has to depend on Najib for power.

“Even so, he barely has enough support as many of the members he has appointed to the political bureau or Supreme Council are not MPs,” he said.

Zahid’s rivals, on the other hand, are MPs who have active roles in the ruling government as either ministers, deputy ministers or heads of government-linked companies.

Everything now hinges on the next Supreme Council meeting, said Hisommudin.

“Can Zahid persuade the Supreme Council to back him or will he go down in history as the weakest Umno president?

“The next meeting will determine Zahid’s fate,” he said. – June 25, 2021.