No Zahid this GE15? Weakens his authority but good for Umno, BN
SHAH ALAM - News of Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be sitting out of the 15th General Election happening next month has received mixed signals from the political arena.
Although he has yet to officially announce it, insiders stated that this had been the major topic behind closed-doors for the past week.
It has, however, been a hard pill to swallow for his loyal supporters at the division level.
Today, Bagan Datuk division’s deputy chief Datuk Khairuddin Tarmizi still pledged for Zahid to contest in Bagan Datuk stating that his service was still needed in the area.
“It was never discussed in any meetings in the Bagan Datuk Umno Division,” he was quoted saying.
Experts agreed that although it shed some positive light on BN and Umno, Zahid’s “sacrifice” may backfire on him personally.
Political analyst Amir Fareed Rahim said if a leader of a major party does not contest, it sends mixed signals to the ground especially if announced as a "surprise" move.
He said this might indicate the party was lacking in confidence and needed a major boost.
“Moreover, although on one hand while it may improve the electoral prospects of his party, it will weaken Zahid's authority over his party especially post-GE15.
“However, it may be likely that he may still return as an MP through a by-election,” he told Sinar Daily.
A source said Umno top leaders believe it needs to be done in order to mitigate attacks by their enemies.
However, sources have stated that this was a mere speed bump for the former deputy prime minister and would later ensure a by-election takes place for him to regain the seat post-GE15.
Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said if the news of Zahid was in fact true, it would be good for BN and Umno as a whole.
“It will void PH one of the most explosive ammunition of trying to portray BN as trying to save its leaders via GE via the Federal government.
“Although Zahid is freed from one of his cases, he still has another thus it is critical for BN to limit the attack from the Opposition via the Court Clusters strategy.
“BN and Umno will be in a better position without Zahid at the help and based on hierarchy, Tok Mat (Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) is a viable replacement,” he told Sinar Daily.
He added that BN’s decision to announce caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as their PM candidate also assures people that Zahid will not be named prime minister after GE15.
Azmi said Zahid should only step aside if he really meant it because there was no good reason or strategy to carry out a by-election just to put him back in the seat.
“If he wants to step down then he should step aside and give another leader to lead Umno during GE15,” he said.
