Hop at your peril, Zahid warns 'frogs' of repercussions in next GE

 

Politicians have a penchant for turning into "frogs" when canoodled with inducements or threats, prompting them to switch camps.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, however, warned that these politicians would court the wrath of voters in the next general election.

"Remember, the people are evaluating elected representatives who turn into 'frogs'.

"The people know what to do with these 'frogs' when the time comes for the 15th general election," he added in a Facebook post this afternoon.

Zahid was responding to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement that he would allow lawmakers to decide on his fate when Parliament convenes next month.

This led to allegations that the prime minister would use the window to garner support for himself through underhanded measures.

Muhyiddin's political rivals, including Zahid, demanded that the Parliament sitting be held now to determine if the prime minister still has majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

Commenting further, Zahid said the people would witness if the "hopping frog tragedy" would repeat in the coming weeks.

He added that a similar incident took place after the last general election in 2018 when Umno-BN fell.

Following this, numerous Umno politicians joined Bersatu, which is led by Muhyiddin, who himself was a former Umno deputy president until his fallout with then premier Najib Abdul Razak.

The current goverment is also comprised of defectors from PKR and Pakatan Harapan.

Continuing his tirade against the "frogs", Zahid, who is facing a slew of charges in court, said they tend to hop in search of rewards or to save themselves.

"This is the reason we want the confidence motion (against the prime minister) to be expedited before there are those who are trapped, duped or seduced into becoming a 'frog'," he added.

In his televised address yesterday, Muhyiddin insisted that he still possessed the upper hand in the Lower House despite Zahid and a group of Umno lawmakers retracting their support for him.

He also claimed that certain quarters were seeking to create political turmoil because of his refusal to interfere in their court cases.

However, Zahid disputed this and claimed that more names of Umno MPs who have lost confidence in the prime minister's leadership have been submitted to the palace.

The Muhyiddin administration, which came into power through a political coup, has come under intense criticism for its failure to curb the Covid-19 pandemic despite an emergency declaration, which led to the suspension of Parliament.

Detractors accused the prime minister of using the emergency as an excuse to ward off attempts to put his tenuous majority to the test in Parliament. - Mkini