‘Rakyat won’t be fooled again’ - Zahid tirade against PN dampens Ismail’s bid

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has gone on a rant against the Perikatan Nasional government that appears to put a dampener on efforts by party rival Ismail Sabri Yaakob to sustain the current government with himself (Ismail) at the helm.

In a Facebook post last night, Zahid called out PN’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and dismissed their current efforts as a desperate trick to gain power.

“Their tones are starting to change. They began to talk in a sad and sombre manner as they’re desperate.

“Sorry, but the people will not be fooled again. People know this is just a game of perception,” Zahid said in his post.

Branding PN’s policies during the pandemic as “biased and full of politically motivated actions”, Zahid listed the many failures he perceived the government to be responsible for.

“People demanded a full lockdown, but they implemented a haphazard ‘total lockdown’.

“People asked for the non-essential factories to be shut down, they shut down small businesses that have a lower risk.

“People asked to withdraw money from EPF, the finance minister said EPF is not a bank.

“People asked for Moratorium 2.0, the government said it's impossible.

“They’ve only done it after so much pressure, and that is even only after the royal institution started to voice out,” he said.

Zahid said the list goes on and claimed people can no longer trust PN as they only acted to solve people’s grievances after their power and position were threatened.

“That is why Umno as a political party needs to act in order to ensure that the people’s lives and the country’s fate are not jeopardised,” he said.

The Umno supreme council, of which a majority of members are aligned with Zahid, is expected to convene in order to decide on a formal prime ministerial candidate, which the party will submit.

This comes amidst the news that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to resign today.

Party vice-president Ismail who was recently appointed deputy prime minister has been positioning himself as a possible successor to Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu president.

Zahid was responsible for bringing down Muhyiddin when he and 14 other Umno MPs withdrew their support earlier this month.

Yesterday, however, Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz confirmed that he was among the MPs who have signed a document in support of Bera MP Ismail to take over the premiership.

Malaysiakini understands that Umno plans to submit three names to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as possible candidates for prime minister.

Among the names in the mix, which must be narrowed down to three, include Zahid, Ismail, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein. - Mkini