Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has rebuffed calls for him to resign following the civil suit against him for alleged assault.

At a press conference today, he said that only the prime minister has the prerogative to appoint or terminate a minister.

“To appoint or terminate (minister) is the discretion of the PM. It is his sole right,” he said.

He also alluded that the urging by Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo is a conflict of interest as the lawyer acting as the plaintiff is the MP’s father, Karpal Singh.

“His father wants to take it to court, so take it to court,” he said.

NONE Ahmad Zahid ( centre in photo ) is facing a lawsuit by Amir Abdullah Bazli, 41,who alleged that the then-deputy minister had assaulted him in 2006, resulting in a nasal bone fracture and swollen left eye.

Ahmad Zahid has denied the claim and applied for the case to be thrown out, but his application was dismissed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

He has filed a countersuit, but the Court of Appeal has also ruled out Ahmad Zahid’s bid to strike out the assault suit and ordered him to respond to the claim.

On another court matter, he said PKR’s director of strategy Rafizi Ramli is “unethical” for “publicising” the contents of the election petition filed against Ahmad Zahid over his win in Bagan Datoh.

“I have received the petition and instructed my lawyers to look into it.

“These matters need not be publicised. If you feel you can file a petition, do so, bring it to the Election Commission and court and we will meet in court.”

The minister is accused of having breached the RM200,000 spending limit for candidates by distributing RM100 and five 1kg bags of rice each to some 24,000 “BN machinery” members.

The shape of democracy

On a separate matter, Ahmad Zahid reiterated his support for the no-contest proposal for the posts of Umno president and deputy president in the upcoming party polls.

However, he said, all three Umno vice-presidents including himself “are opening the doors” for a contest for the posts, “although we hope we are retained”.

Asked if a no-contest urging, including at Umno Youth level, is undemocractic, he quipped: “Of course you would like a contest, for us to fight among ourselves.”

“What is the meaning of democracy? The shape of democracy (acuan demokrasi) depends on the situation.

“The rules allow for contests for all positions, including in the Youth and Puteri wings but for the sake of unity, it was proposed that the top posts are not contested to avoid fractures especially as we have just come out of a general election,” he said.

He added that this is to also ensure that there is no fissures at the grassroots level, so that party work can do done smoothly.

Wanita Umno might as well declare 'no-contest', too