KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Selangor Umno Chief Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin said there is no need for Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to give in to the pressure to resign as he is the most qualified person to lead the party.
In an interview with Utusan Malaysia, he said Zahid had never abused his position and had always allowed democracy to prevail.
“Who else would you give the presidency to? Give me the name of who else is qualified. I once asked if Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is not qualified then who is qualified?
“In all my years in the party’s supreme council, he has never used his position to prevent democracy in Umno. The door to democracy is always open,” he was quoted as saying.
He also recalled that in recent party elections, the supreme council had opened up all the positions to be contested but the 150 division chiefs decided not to challenge the president and deputy president positions.
“Division chiefs who care about Umno in representing their respective divisions demanded that the president and deputy president positions not be contested, but Ahmad Zahid as an individual and party president never used his position to hinder democracy in Umno,” he said.
There have been calls for Ahmad Zahid to resign since the last general election (GE15) following a poor showing by Umno and again following the six state polls in August last year where Umno also underperformed.
More recently, some have called for his resignation for signing an affidavit in support of jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to serve his sentence under house arrest.
The surprise move is seen as contradictory for a DPM simultaneously holding a position as party president within the ruling coalition and supporting a judicial review challenging the government’s decision.
