Hamzah claims Zahid entered pact with Anwar to resolve graft cases

Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin alleged that BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had agreed to ally with Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim after the last general election in exchange for the corruption cases against him being resolved.

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general claimed that a similar deal was offered to him after the Sabah state election.

He said the original agreement between PN and BN, who were still working together at the time, was for Bersatu’s Hajiji Noor to become Sabah chief minister but he claimed Zahid (above) changed his mind at the last minute.

“Suddenly, Zahid changed his mind and said he wanted Bung Moktar Radin to become the chief minister of Sabah instead.

“My friend called me at dawn (the day after the Sabah election results came out) and said ‘Brother, we can settle this with one condition. Resolve the cases of the Umno president.’

“So the deal struck between Anwar and Zahid (after GE15) was because Zahid wanted his cases resolved,” Hamzah said.

Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, is facing 47 charges related to criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering linked to funds from Yayasan Akalbudi.

There is also an appeal pending over his acquittal over 40 charges of corruption in connection with the foreign visa (VLN) system.

Despite the offer, Hajiji eventually was appointed Sabah chief minister after the Sabah state polls in 2020, while Bung Moktar was appointed the deputy chief minister.

Hamzah, who is former home minister, was speaking in Sik, Kedah, last night in a solidarity event for caretaker Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who was recently slapped with two sedition charges over comments he made about the royals.

After GE15, when no one coalition had a clear simple majority, there was a race to see who could reach an agreement to form the federal government first.

While BN initially appeared to be leaning towards supporting PN as the new federal government, they eventually threw their support behind Anwar as the prime minister.

‘BN never decided on Anwar’

Meanwhile, Hamzah said he recently met with both the MCA and MIC presidents, Wee Ka Siong and SA Vigneswaran, and asked them about BN’s support for Anwar.

“If they lied to me, then I am lying.

“I want to tell you all, they said that there was never a decision for BN to support Anwar as stated in the letter sent to the rulers,” he said.

Hamzah said because PN is a coalition that respects and defends the royal institution, they acceded to the rulers’ decision to appoint Anwar as the new prime minister.

Citing this respect for the rulers, the PN leader argued that Sanusi would never insult the royal institution.

“The ones that Sanusi wanted to disturb were (PKR secretary-general) Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, (PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli) and Anwar,” he added.

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