Zaid: Najib all alone now, a lost cause within Umno

PETALING JAYA: It’s lonely at the top, as the adage goes, and Zaid Ibrahim believes this now applies to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In a blog post today, the former minister suggested this was the case based on remarks made by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to Umno delegates attending the party’s general assembly this week.

“Zahid had to resort to appealing to Umno delegates one day before the general assembly not to leave Najib alone,” Zaid said.

He joked that it could not be because the home minister was a Liverpool fan and was using the rallying cry of “you’ll never walk alone”, the English football club’s anthem.

Zaid, who is a DAP member, said Zahid’s remark was very telling in that it indicated Najib had lost the support of friends, even from within the party.

“Pandikar Amin Mulia, Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Salleh Said Keruak are about all the friends he has.

“He (Najib) is a lost cause within Umno, and much more so with members of the public. Everyone is just waiting to see him go.”

Zaid said that rumours abound of Najib trying to enlist other “friends” in high places to join in political attacks against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and DAP.

“I would like to suggest to these friends to refrain themselves and not get too excited about helping the PM.

“It would be tragic if these friends in high places misread the country’s political mood and made the cardinal mistake of backing a loser.”

He added that such people should refrain from taking sides.

“There is a lot of bravado and confidence in Najib’s camp, but the political reality suggests he is in deep trouble.”

Zaid also took aim at Najib and Umno for seemingly losing the support of their unspoken ally, PAS.

“The PM’s strategy of working with PAS has gone awry.

“Even though PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang will remain his soulmate for years to come, PAS supporters have discovered that working with Umno has created some distance between themselves and their friends in coffee shops and suraus.

“They are embarrassed to even talk about collaborating with Najib.” -FMT