Zahid brands Umno rivals as cowards, 'like a tortoise hiding in shell'

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi this morning took a swipe at his rivals in the party for attacking the leadership when the party was weakened following its humiliating defeat in the 14th General Election in 2018.

In his policy speech at the 2022 Umno general assembly, the deputy prime minister also branded a certain party leader in the group a coward, akin to a “tortoise who hid the head in its shell” when the party was at its all-time low but now tries to reemerge.

Zahid (above) said the leaders had tried to undermine Umno’s efforts to regain its strength following GE14 with the “perpaduan ummah” (Islamic unity) move.

“They said this move would create an unhealthy political situation and imbalance (in the country), because we are a multicultural country with people from different religious backgrounds. (They said) we cannot form a political movement that is too far right.

“Ironically, this group did not want to be with the party leadership then. They kept their distance, purportedly because they felt responsible for the party’s defeat.

“There were also those who went into hiding after they lost in the party election. Akin to a tortoise which hid its head inside its shell,” he said, to loud cheers from party delegates.

Look in the mirror

According to the Umno president, the party leadership - including himself - came under heavy internal criticism after Umno’s worst performance in the 15th general election in November.

However, Zahid said the critics should not only blame others, adding that some were themselves responsible for the party’s dismal performance as they gave opponents ammunition to attack Umno.

“I could also list out here... some of our election candidates tarnished the image of this party. They said that Umno is a party that is corrupt, Umno had been damaged, lost its way, and many other criticisms were thrown at Umno.

“These speeches had been turned by the opposition as their bullets to attack Umno, but now this tortoise tries to get out of its shell again.

“I could also point fingers at the poster boy... that the poster boy should be taking full responsibility (for Umno’s defeat) because he was the party’s front image for GE15.

“But if we want to turn all these accusations into a polemic, we won’t be able to move forward. We will continue to blame each other. Thus, we should not deny all that the party has done to face the election, where we have tried our best,” he said.

While Zahid did not explicitly mention names, it was believed that one of those he meant in the speech was former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who recently announced his intention to challenge Zahid for the Umno presidency should it be open for competition in the upcoming party election.

In the days following BN’s defeat in GE14, Khairy also issued a statement calling for immediate reform of the party, saying that they should not “allow this sacred party to be destroyed and disappear forever.”

During the campaign period for GE15 in November, Khairy reportedly expressed his wish to bring changes to Umno and cleanse the party should he capture the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, the “poster boy” mentioned by Zahid referred to former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, whom the party said will retain as PM should it win GE15.

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