Najib asserts his trust in Zahid, despite ouster claim

KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday that there has never been animosity between him and his deputy, Mr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, amid the claim by opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad that the latter had tried to oust Mr Najib.

Mr Najib said he has always trusted Mr Zahid, and they have been close since the 1980s.

“He is my friend. He is my ally. We have been through hardships before, I don’t need to go into details,” said Mr Najib, who is also Umno (United Malays National Organisation) president, during a party event in Shah Alam.

“The top leadership in Umno is strong. I believe in my deputy, Zahid.”

Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, wrote in a recent blog post that Mr Zahid had met him, supposedly to seek his help in replacing Mr Najib as prime minister. The meeting took place not long after Dr Zahid was appointed deputy prime minister, following the sacking of Mr Muhyiddin Yassin in 2015.

Responding to this claim, Mr Najib said he was confident that Mr Zahid would never backstab him.

On the contrary, he pointed out that it was Dr Mahathir who had Mr Zahid arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) — abolished in 2012 — and forced the latter to resign as Umno youth chief.

“He sent two Special Branch officers to meet Zahid. They told him, ‘If you do not want to be under the ISA, sign the resignation letter for Umno youth chief’,” said Mr Najib.

“Zahid is also human. As brave as he is, he has to think about his wife and kids. He signed it and relinquished his post.

“The next day, the officers came again. They came with another letter and asked him to sign it, saying that he had resigned on his own accord. It was pointing a gun to his head — he will never forget that.”

Mr Zahid on Friday rubbished the allegation that he had plotted to oust Mr Najib, saying that he has an audio recording as proof of his innocence.

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday also urged all Umno members at the grassroots level to reject any former Umno leader who wants to destroy the party to fulfil their political goals.

In an innuendo-filled speech during the opening of a Umno delegates meeting in Pahang, Mr Zahid likened Umno to a house of glass that is under attack from its former owner.

“Stones were thrown at the glass house from within, in the past, but now they are thrown from the outside.

“In this environment, we as warriors should stand by our leader and fight anybody attacking the house,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Without naming names, Mr Zahid also chastised the former owner of the glass house for turning it into a hotel that he entered and left as and when he pleased.

“Rightly, as a former owner, we should get together to carry out repairs if the house is damaged and something is not right,” he added. AGENCIES