Zahid: I'll never abandon Umno, come hell or high water

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has maintained that the court cases against him are "selective prosecution" resulting from his refusal to dissolve the party.

Zahid said he would never abandon Umno, come hell or high water, and would defend the party despite the challenges lobbed at him.

"After Pakatan Harapan won (the 14th general election), one of the steps taken by (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) was to dissolve Umno. This was to get all Umno members to defect to Bersatu.

"In fact, Bersatu was formed to replace Umno. In his every campaign speech, Mahathir kept saying that Umno is not relevant and many accusations were thrown towards the party and its leaders," the incumbent Bagan Datuk MP said in a statement on Facebook today.

The attacks were to instigate Umno members to hate the Malay-based party that had "done a lot" for the people and country, he added.

"The desperate effort taken by Mahathir, who was then Bersatu chairperson and the prime minister, was asking me to dissolve Umno and join Bersatu.

"My blood boiled when I heard those words. I strictly denied his (Mahathir's) request," Zahid wrote.

Standing firm for Umno

According to Zahid, many Umno lawmakers quit the party and switched alliances when Harapan won, as they thought that Umno would never recover from the electoral loss.

"Shortly after I refused to dissolve Umno, I paid a dear price by being 'selectively prosecuted' with 87 charges of graft.

"I will never budge an inch in defending Umno," Zahid said, adding that he would have possibly been spared the court cases if he had agreed to dissolve Umno.

He claimed that many former Umno/BN leaders deserted the party and the coalition to join Bersatu, as they feared that they would be probed by the MACC for links with 1MDB.

"God willing, I will defend Umno, despite the 'selective prosecution' against me."

For the record, Zahid's defence team previously claimed in court that the charges against him were a clear case of selective prosecution with no prima facie.

Yesterday, Zahid also clarified that his recent speech at the MIC delegates assembly that BN leaders face criminal charges in court if Harapan won GE15 was about "selective prosecution". The video of the speech has gone viral.

He further slammed his political opponents for "spinning" his remarks to make it seem as if it was an admission that Umno’s leadership wanted an immediate election to save the “court cluster” from being charged. - Mkini