Ismail Sabri - PM who didn’t use front door because of Zahid

Following the infamous Sheraton Move which toppled the Pakatan Harapan administration in 2020, the term “backdoor” prime minister has become part of the Malaysian political lexicon.

However, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who holds the record for being the shortest-serving prime minister - 15 months - revealed how he avoided the “front door”.

Following his appointment as prime minister, the veteran politician, whom pundits never expected to rise to the top, said he went to great lengths not to trample on Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s feelings.

This included refraining from alighting from his vehicle at the front door of the Umno building in Kuala Lumpur because he did not want Zahid to hear the sirens of his police outriders.

Instead, he opted to access the building via the underground car park.

“If I wanted to meet him (Zahid), as prime minister, I could ask him to come to my office but I didn’t. 

“I went to the Yayasan Akal Budi (office) in Country Heights and, when entering, all the police lights would be turned off. The police would be far from the fence and only my car would enter because I wanted to ‘jaga hati presiden’ (take care of the president’s feelings),” he added. 

According to reports, Ismail disclosed these details during his interview with former Umno leader Khairy Jamaluddin in the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

Ismail also said that his predecessor, Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin, had picked him as a senior minister instead of Zahid because the latter had court cases pending at the time, whereas Umno number two Mohamad Hasan was not an MP.

“That is the reason, no other reasons,” he said.

Disenchanted

Ismail said he was disappointed that certain Umno leaders had avoided him when he was made senior minister (security cluster) in 2020 and later prime minister in 2021.

The former Umno vice-president said he did not receive the support he had expected when holding the posts despite not having issues with Zahid and often raised the party’s voice in government.

Ismail said he is still disenchanted as the “disturbance” has continued despite not having any high positions in Umno or the government.

“I don’t disturb anyone but they still hammer me. Enough… I am quiet now, don’t disturb me,” he said, adding that during the recent Umno annual meet, a supreme council member close to Zahid had lashed out at him and another former vice-president, Hishammuddin Hussein.

‘Najib never asked for my help’

In the interview, Ismail also disclosed that former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak did not ask for his assistance in relation to his SRC International case apart from being accorded a fair trial.

“Many outsiders don’t know that when Najib met me, he didn’t ask to be freed. He said he respects the court,” he added.

Najib had landed in prison after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence under Ismail’s watch in August 2022, which irked the former’s supporters.

Furthermore, Ismail said due to his legal background, he had respect for the courts and their procedures.

“We can’t just see this from the point of law, and at that time we had to also think about matters outside our country. As a prime minister, I had to think further than that.

“If our courts could be interfered with, what would outsiders think? No one would want to invest in our country,” he added.

Conceding that Najib still commands strong support within Umno, he said the party’s information chief Azalina Othman Said has been tasked with securing a full pardon for him.

“I hope some amongst us (from Umno) will be given an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to request that the addendum is brought to the meeting (of the Pardons Board) so that Najib can undergo house arrest.

“Or the Pardons Board asks that Najib be given a full pardon,” he said, adding that the former premier’s outstanding cases would make it difficult.

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