UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is setting himself up to be the next prime minister but in order to realise his dream, the Bagan Datuk MP must first create a team of loyalists, pundits said.

They told The Malaysian Insight that Umno’s list of parliamentary candidates. which was announced last night, was packed with Zahid’s supporters.

In announcing his list, Zahid dropped several veteran Umno lawmakers – such as Shahidan Kassim, Annuar Musa and Zahidi Zainul Abidin – but did not reveal the candidates for Tanjung Karang, Jempol, and Kuala Nerus.

All three seats had been in the news in recent days for different reasons. 

Earlier today, video clips started emerging showing Noh Omar’s supporters in tears after hearing the news he will not stand in Tanjung Karang. 

Just hours before Zahid’s announcement, a video clip had shown a morose looking Noh walking out of a service centre, while his supporters shouted their support for him. 

Noh is a six-term MP for the constituency and widely seen as a party warlord in Selangor. He is also the Selangor Umno and BN chief.

However, word on the political grapevine was that the Umno president was keen to drop Noh and several other party veterans, who were also ministers in Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s cabinet. 

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said it was clear that Zahid wants a team of MPs who could follow orders.

Citing the incident involving Muhyiddin Yassin when the Bersatu chairman was prime minister, Hisommudin said Zahid does not want MPs who would disagree with the party.

“When Umno wanted to withdraw the support for Muhyiddin there were MPs who disagreed with Zahid. He does not want a repeat of this.”

“Therefore, he is putting forward new faces who will agree with him. He is also positioning himself to become the next prime minister, but before he can do that, he needs a team that can follow orders,” Hisommudin said.

Umno, PKR nominate candidates loyal to president

Badrul Hisham Ismail of Iman Research said it was clear that Zahid was eyeing the country’s top job.

However, he added that it was interesting to see the latest developments in Umno mirroring those in PKR, which had also dropped dissenting party members from the nomination list.

“It is interesting to see this latest development. While Umno was trying to replace old faces, PKR was also spring cleaning, nominating those who are close to Anwar Ibrahim.

“Those who are aligned to ex-deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali were not named, so for me it is very interesting to see what will happen next. What is clear is that Umno and PKR want MPs who can stay loyal to their president,” Badrul said.

Malaysia will vote on November 19. Early voting is on November 15. Nomination day is on Saturday. – November 2, 2022.