Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s special briefing with Umno leaders and members today called for the purging of traitors from the party to strengthen it post the 15th general election (GE15).
Several delegates confirmed the matter with the press, saying that Ahmad Zahid also named the constituencies of all 10 MPs who had backed up Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the prime minister’s post.
Of the 10 MPs, six were from Umno while the remaining four were from their component parties.
“The president said that they did it without the party’s consent,” a source who attended the briefing told Malay Mail.
A delegate who attended the meeting said among those named is Sembrong MP and former defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
However, another source said Zahid told the audience that Bera MP and former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was not in the group.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the president also spoke about party leaders who campaigned against the party in GE15.
“The president doesn’t want treason in Umno; when we contested, party leaders that come from Umno also supported other parties,” he told reporters after attending the two-hour briefing.
Terengganu Umno communications chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said the clean-up is necessary in order for the party to move forward.
“We believe that for the future of the party, unification is necessary, and we also need to clean up the party because there are those who have sabotaged it in the past election for some reason,” he said.
Supreme council member Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who also attended the briefing, said Zahid listed the challenges faced as president and chairman of Barisan Nasional.
According to Abdul Rahman, Zahid urged Umno leaders to refrain from being pessimistic in facing the road ahead, especially in the upcoming state elections, where cooperation with unity government ally Pakatan Harapan (PH) seems likely.
“To ensure the country is guided by positive values, Umno has been here all these years and adding to PH’s reforms and pragmatism, it offers new value for Malaysian politics.
“With the strength of both parties in the unity government, it has a lot to offer compared to other parties,” he said.
Supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi revealed that Zahid has promised to cleanse Umno of elements that are “detrimental” to the party.
“In the president’s briefing today, Zahid assured a total clean-up of elements that ‘hurl stones and hide their hands’ (anasir baling batu sembunyi tangan),” Puad said, without mentioning names or elaborating on the matter.
“The direction of Umno will be tabled during the president’s policy speech on Friday. Therefore, the total clean-up is strongly supported,” he added in a Facebook posting.
This Umno general assembly from Jan 11 to 15 is the first since Zahid agreed to work together with Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan to form the new government after the 15th general election.
The decision drew mixed reactions within Umno, with some disagreeing with the move.
Therefore, it is expected that Zahid will be challenged in the forthcoming Umno leadership elections, which would be held before May 19.