WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR AHMAD ZAHID?
The UMNO president also faces several corruption charges in court.
After a string of state-level electoral successes, he repeatedly urged Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve parliament and call new elections. However, there are signs of divergent positions within UMNO on whether the parliament should be dissolved soon.
Political analyst, Professor Mohd Azizuddin Sani of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), told CNA: “With UMNO already divided, (Ahmad) Zahid would feel lonelier without Najib. Najib supported him. He and his deputy (Mohamad Hasan) will have to mobilize the party now.
Professor Azizuddin noted that the electoral posturing continues intensively and will continue.
“Monday’s meeting was aimed at pushing the prime minister to dissolve parliament,” he said, referring to a last-minute meeting of UMNO division chiefs.
Commenting on the rally, the Prime Minister told foreign media including CNA on Monday: “The party (UMNO) can give its opinion (but) whatever happens outside will not disturb my concentration to work for the country. Because I have a job to do here, which is to manage the welfare of the nation and the country.
UMNO General Secretary Ahmad Malan tweeted that there would be another briefing from Ahmad Zahid this Saturday on “current issues”. Division committee members and leaders were invited to attend the session.
Elections are to be called by September next year.
Political scientist Professor Wong Chin Huat of Sunway University also said that Ahmad Zahid’s position is clearly weaker after Najib’s imprisonment. He added that many local leaders who support Najib should gradually shift their allegiance to Mr. Ismail Sabri.
“The same would happen to Zahid if he were sentenced in the coming weeks. Najib’s and Zahid’s supporters are hard-to-maintain patronage networks with no prospect of returning to power in a short period of time,” he told CNA.
Dr Oh Ei Sun, Policy Analyst at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), believes that the pressure exerted by UMNO on Mr. Ismail Sabri to hold elections as soon as possible will continue unabated, with the not-so-secret aim of subsequently removing him from the post of Prime Minister.
“It’s so that a more flexible and more palatable replacement for Zahid can be instituted,” he said, not ruling out the possibility of Ahmad Zahid becoming prime minister.