Zahid says he respects Dr M's age but not his opinions

Summary

• Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dismisses ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s comments describing the party as a “fly”.

• Zahid says Mahahir's age deserves respect, but he does not respect the former prime minister's opinion.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has dismissed a statement from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad which likened his party to a “fly”.

The deputy prime minister has the grace to respect his elders but noted that it does not equate to valuing what they say.

"We should show him respect - he is of a certain age - but I do not respect his opinion," Zahid was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times at MCA's Chinese New Year open house today.

Yesterday, in a swipe against Umno, Mahathir used DAP leader Nga Kor Ming’s recent analogy where the minister called himself a lion, and Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh a fly.

"According to Nga, Umno is just a fly. Nga is a lion.

“Umno has accepted being a fly because it is afraid of the lion," Mahathir said.

The veteran politician, who was Umno's longest-serving president before clashing with two of his successors and eventually leaving the party, was expressing his regret over the current state of the once powerful organisation.

“This is what Umno is now. Nothing more than a fly in the government,” Mahathir added.

Analogy from ‘ham’ spat

Nga had made his comment during a spat with Akmal over the recent “ham” sandwich debacle.

“As far as I’m concerned, lions don’t argue with flies,” the housing and local government minister quipped.

This was in response to criticism from Akmal regarding the issue of “ham” sandwiches sold at KK Mart on the Universiti of Malaya (UM) campus, which bore an unauthorised halal logo.

After Nga's analogy, Akmal retorted by calling the DAP vice-chairperson a "ham-brain".

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