Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi denied the move to scrap Imams umrah visa management system was a political stunt.

However, he said something smelled fishy, given that someone who had never performed the minor pilgrimage to Mecca being an executive in the company tasked to manage the system.

"I don't think there were any political elements in this matter.

“But I smelled something that wasn't pleasant, if someone was taking advantage (of the system), especially when a CEO that had never performed the umrah became the CEO (sic)," Zahid said at a press conference in the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur today.

Imams was scrapped yesterday evening, amid a public outcry over its chief operating officer (COO) being a non-Mulsim.

Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, however, said that the cancellation of Imams had nothing to do with the COO.

Instead, he said he ordered the system to be spiked because he did not agree to the compulsory RM90 fee imposed under the system.

Meanwhile, Zahid also affirmed that the Cabinet had indeed discussed efforts to curb fraudulent umrah packages, but did not go into specifics.

“Cabinet was informed about it (efforts to curb fraudulent umrah packages), but not through Imams.

“(What was discussed) was that the company would be registered and certain regulations would be put in place, and monitoring would be carried out so that pilgrims won't be victimised.

“However (the discussion) did not involve appointing any company to handle it,” he said.

Imams was meant to be compulsory for the umrah visa application process, and would have been imposed on all 65 tourism agencies that handle umrah in Malaysia.

The system was aimed at curbing umrah package frauds.

It would have incurred an overall charge of RM90.10 per pilgrim, comprising RM45 for using Imams, RM40 for a comprehensive umrah takaful insurance scheme, and GST.