AHMAD Zahid Hamidi’s claim that the Pakatan Harapan government was unstable and would implode soon is campaign rhetoric for his bid to be Umno president, Pakatan Harapan lawmakers said today.

The interim Umno president was only trying to “fool” party members into voting for him, said PKR’s Xavier Jayakumar when met at Parliament today.

“Zahid is trying to just garner votes for the Umno elections. He himself knows very well it’s not going to happen. He is trying to put himself in a better position,” Jayakumar, the Kuala Langat MP, told The Malaysian Insight.

“They don’t have feet on the ground and don’t accept reality. They are still in the clouds,” he added.

Zahid yesterday told Umno Federal Territory delegates at a Hari Raya do that PH would collapse in the near future and had not been governing well in the six weeks since it came to power.

His meeting with the delegates comes ahead of Umno polls for its Supreme Council and top office bearers this Sunday, in which Zahid is in a five-man race for the president’s post. His main rivals are veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa said Zahid’s remarks showed his fear that more Umno members would abandon the party for PH.  Umno recently lost one MP, Bagan Serai lawmaker Noor Azmi Ghazali, who announced plans to join Bersatu.

Barisan Nasional, which Umno leads, has also lost component parties in Sabah and Sarawak, and Gerakan on the peninsula, leaving it with just three parties now.

“If Zahid wants to stay relevant and compete, he needs ideas of reform. He cannot be politicking too much.

“He is worried about Umno members moving to PH. We welcome those who join us on a reform agenda,” Mujahid said when met at Parliament.

Bersatu’s deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir said Zahid should realise that it was Umno that was imploding and not PH.

“Perhaps he is mistaken. He is referring to his own party that has gone through an implosion. We will make sure that doesn’t happen to us,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The Kedah menteri besar denied Zahid’s claim that he had good ties with the current government.

Zahid, who is the Bagan Datuk MP, yesterday said he good ties with everyone, including PH parties like PKR and Warisan. – June 26, 2018.