Zahid could emerge as BN’s poster boy now, says analyst

 

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was freed of 40 charges of corruption on Friday but remains on trial on 47 other charges.

PETALING JAYA: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stands to emerge as Barisan Nasional’s new “poster boy” for the next general election after being acquitted of 40 corruption charges yesterday, says an analyst.

Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir said he saw no reason for Zahid not to get the chance to be the poster boy, as the trial had been dangling over the Umno president’s head for some time now,

While noting that Zahid still faces the 47 graft charges involving Yayasan Akalbudi, Jeniri said the potential was still there for him to be BN’s face in GE15.

“This will boost his spirit and confidence. I think this is one of the bigger hurdles (for Zahid).

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He said Umno had supported Zahid, while vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob was prime minister, because he was the most senior party figure in the government.

Zahid’s supporters would now use his acquittal in the visa scheme trial as part of their narrative to garner support for him.

However, political scientist Wong Chin Huat said it was not certain that the acquittal had paved the way for Zahid to become BN’s poster boy, as he was not completely off the hook yet.

“Zahid still has criminal breach of trust charges related to his charity foundation. If convicted, he would be disqualified from holding Umno’s presidency and BN chairmanship,” Wong said.

He also expected the attorney-general to file an appeal against Zahid’s acquittal.

Wong said he expected that Umno’s pledge to have Ismail as its poster boy would remain unchanged.

Two other analysts, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara and James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute, said they expected the acquittal to result in the general election being held this year.

Azmi said Zahid’s push for early elections was never about him but about Umno’s strong position after its victories in the Melaka and Johor state elections.

“I think most probably, monsoon or not, the election will be held towards the end of the year,” Azmi said.

Chin said Zahid’s position was empowered as he could now claim that the charges brought against him were politically motivated. “And of course, this means that he can push even harder for Ismail to hold an early general election,” Chin said.

However, he said the acquittal would have little effect on BN’s chances in GE15 as the coalition’s “overall picture” was still the same.

“There’s been no change since last year, so everything is basically the same. The only major political change since then is the jailing of Najib Razak.”

Zahid was acquitted of 40 charges of receiving bribes from a company operating a foreign visa scheme. However, he remains on trial on 47 charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and accepting bribes during his tenure as the home minister. - FMT