In special address, Zahid pushes for immediate GE and Najib’s pardon

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pushed strongly for the general election to be held soon as well as a campaign to pardon former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in a special briefing to party delegates in Kuala Lumpur today.

Zahid said Umno’s insistence on an early general election was a decision made by the entire party leadership and was not decided unilaterally to save himself from his court case.

“I would like to remind once again that all these demands are Umno’s insistence as a party that fights for the interests of its members and the rakyat.

“It’s not specifically for the interests of any individual Umno member or leader at all. The benefit of the demands is for all races in Malaysia,” Zahid said.

He was addressing thousands of Umno delegates at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) today in a special briefing meant primarily to assuage party members over the recent jailing of Najib.

Zahid said Umno has called for a fresh general election since the fall of the Pakatan Harapan administration back in February 2020 following the infamous Sheraton Move.

‘Not power-crazy’

Insisting that Umno is not calling for early general election because they are “power-crazy”, he said it is to return the mandate to the people and form a stable government.

“When the Harapan government dissolved, all of us without a single exception wanted the general election to be held. We need to return the mandate to the rakyat.

“Our stand has been consistent since the beginning. Let there not be any voices among us starting to accuse us of being greedy for wanting elections to be held,” he said.

After they successfully placed someone from their party as the prime minister, Zahid said the Umno supreme council had advised the prime minister to hold an election the moment herd immunity from Covid-19 is achieved.

Even though the current prime minister is from Umno, Zahid said the government of the day cannot be called an Umno or BN government as it is a “hybrid government” that will find it difficult to ensure stability for the country.

Zahid also strongly denied that he wanted to expedite the 15th general election (GE15) because he was afraid of getting convicted in his court case.

He said he is not worried about his case because, despite Najib’s conviction, Zahid said he still believes that the judiciary is independent.

‘Continue fight for Najib’

Meanwhile, he described what happened to Najib as political revenge and urged party delegates to continue the fight for Najib.

On Aug 23, Najib started serving his 12-year jail term after the Federal Court upheld his conviction from the High Court for misappropriating funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd amounting to RM42 million.

Aside from the 12-year jail term, Najib also has to pay an RM210 million fine.

Zahid said to continue the fight for Najib, party members must be ready to support the petition campaign for a royal pardon for the former premier when the time comes.

“We leave it to the wisdom of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide later,” he said.

Party members should also mobilise for the ‘Nukilan Buat Najib’ campaign, where they should write notes of support, encouragement and gratitude for Najib.

“The head office will collect (the notes) and turn them into a letter from the rakyat for Najib, who is currently being confined,” Zahid said.

He also urged members to continue liking and sharing Najib’s Facebook posts.

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