COMMENT | Ahmad Zahid Hamidi must be in seventh heaven on Sept 24, Saturday, and why not. The Umno president was acquitted on 40 graft charges related to the Foreign Visa System (VLN) by the Shah Alam High Court only 24 hours earlier.

One could sense that Zahid, buoyed by the favourable verdict, was a different Umno leader now. He must have felt that he could now return to assert himself as the powerful party boss. A heavy burden has indeed been lifted from his shoulders.

Well, I could resonate with his statement on Facebook that “the 15th general election (GE15) is the best time to ‘punish’ party hoppers”.

“They know that their worst nightmare will begin when Parliament is dissolved. The party hoppers will be ‘punished’ by their voters”, he wrote in what must surely be a buoyant and triumphant mood.

I am on the same page as the Bagan Datuk MP here as I have repeatedly stated that come GE15, the first priority for Malaysians is to ensure that the Sheraton traitors and backstabbers are voted out.

Party-hoppers, traitors, backstabbers, and betrayers are the same. Even my regular usage of the terms - parasites, leeches, and scumbags - on such wayward, despicable politicians is nothing vulgar and considered journalistically acceptable.

But my agreement with Zahid’s Facebook statement ends when...