Zahid and Najib not burdens; rather, they aid Umno's victory

PONTIAN - Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak have been nothing but beneficial for the party.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the two had been actively campaigning for all state elections held in which the party came out victorious.

"All that we (Umno) have won before, there is Zahid and Najib,” he said.

The Pontian MP said this when commenting on the views of veteran political analyst, Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Zainal Kling on the 15th General Election (GE15) who said Umno would win if the two leaders retire.

"The presence of the two leaders is not a burden to the party, instead their presence has helped Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) a lot in the by-elections and state elections, including in Johor polls recently.

"Umno will not sideline Ahmad Zahid because he has not been found guilty by the court while Najib has not yet completed his entire judicial process.

“We cannot draw any conclusions there,” he said when met after inspecting the Ramadan Bazaar in Pekan Ayer Baloi on Thursday.

On the same day, Zainal Kling was reported saying that Umno and BN would not be able to achieve their goal of complete victory as long as there were leaders like Ahmad Zahid and Najib in the mix, who had legal concerns and were involved in corruption cases.

He reminded Umno not to be too confident and comfortable with the victory of several by-elections and state elections.

Ahmad added that Zainal's statement was seen as someone's mere opinion.

Earlier this week, PKR Vice President Rafizi Ramli said data findings showed only 4 per cent of the people wanted Najib to return and lead the country.

He said the findings were based on a study that was conducted in February, adding that the Pekan MP was the last choice after five other political figures including another former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.