Has Zahid forgotten his unsettled 47 charges before daring his “cikgu” to sack him, UMNO ministers?

 

HAVING grown horn following the recent landslide Johor state election victory or succumbing to grassroots pressure, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has openly declared that the Prime Minister (PM) could fire him and all Barisan Nasional (BN) ministers if he no longer like them.

This supposedly maiden ‘betrayal’ has set tongues wagging on cyberspace as to how the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) can be oblivious to the “still hanging” Sword of Damocles above his head.

This is by virtue of his currently awaiting a High Court decision on his application for a full acquittal from 47 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering involving Yayasan Akalbudi funds.

In February 2026, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) informed the court they decided to take “no further action (NFA)” on the case following further investigations with the prosecution not objecting to his bid for a full acquittal following the granting of discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in September 2023.

However, the Malaysian Bar was granted leave by the Court of Appeal in May 2026 to launch a judicial review challenging the AG’s decision to drop the charges, thus complicating the path to a final resolution.

Prohibition against badmouthing

That the “47 charges” serve as a ransom to buy his loyalty to the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led unity government has prompted some Madani backers to suggest that the former can be weaponised following the perceived backstabbing.

For context, Zahid who is also the BN chairman contended that PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can dismiss ministers from the coalition if he is unhappy with their performance.

However, he defended that there was no reason for BN ministers to resign voluntarily.

“The PM warned that those who speak ill of other ministers or ministries during the election campaign should resign,” he spoke at the Amanat TPM (DPM) event with the Negri Sembilan Community Development Department in Seremban yesterday (July 21).

“My answer is that there’s no need to ask anyone to resign because the PM is the one who appointed the ministers. If he doesn’t like us, he can just sack us.”

However, Zahid who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister expressed optimism that PMX “wouldn’t have the heart to sack us because all of us work very hard”.

“The power is in his hands. This is an election campaign and we haven’t interfered with Putrajaya at all.”

Recall that PMX had over the weekend (July 19) warned that ministers, deputy ministers and heads of federal agencies/chairmen of government-linked companies (GLICs) must resign if they used their positions to attack fellow unity government partners during state election campaigns.

This came about amid cordiality between key ruling allies Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) thinning as UMNO has virtually embraced PAS as campaigning for the Aug 1 Negeri Sembilan (N9) state election reaches a feverish pitch.

Two federal ministers are contesting in the N9 state election, namely Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook (Chennah seat) and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan a.k.a. Tok Mat (Rantau seat).

While parties aligned at the federal level were free to contest against one another in state elections, PMX drew a line in that those holding federal office must maintain discipline and avoid turning their positions into political platforms.

In response, Tok Mat who is also the UMNO deputy president said he was ready to step down from his cabinet post if ordered to do so by PMX.

The BN deputy chairman added thus far no BN member had criticised the Federal government throughout the NS campaign period.

Interestingly, while it is true that none of the eight UMNO ministers and five deputy ministers have badmouthed other Madani allies, the same cannot be said of the party’s rightist Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who are often embroiled in trading barbs with DAP.

A glaring example in the context of the state election campaigning is his incessant push for National DAP deputy chairman Nga Kor Ming to relinquish his Housing and Local Government Ministership following BN’s recent 48-8 trouncing of PH in the Johor state polls. –  Focus Malaysia

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