Name the 130 division chiefs who wanted Zahid out, Tajuddin told

Former Umno Supreme Council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman should name the 130 Umno division heads who he claimed wanted to pressure party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to vacate his post in 2020, says an Umno leader.

(FMT) – Speaking to FMT, Wangsa Maju Umno chief Shafei Abdullah disagreed with Tajuddin’s claim that there were 130 division heads across the country who agreed with a proposal to urge Zahid to step down as president. Umno has 191 divisions.

However, Shafei admitted that there were initial attempts to get the division heads’ views on the proposal, which he said failed to materialise as it did not get majority support.

“Why does he want to bring up old stories? Does he want everyone to go to war? If he claims 130 (division heads) supported the move, then why didn’t it go through? He shouldn’t just make such claims, he has to provide the names.

“It was not a movement but an attempt to try and get the views of (the division chiefs). I was called in too, but at first, I did not know why. When I was asked about it, I disagreed with the move along with a few other division heads.

“We asked ourselves, why are we doing this? The president was elected, let him finish his term,” he said.

He said that if the majority had agreed with the proposal, it would have been brought up at the Umno general assembly.

Paya Besar Umno chief Ahmad Tajuddin Sulaiman claimed that Tajuddin, the outspoken Pasir Salak MP, was behind the movement to get rid of Zahid.

“Everyone (division heads) knows him and his plans. That (revelation on Monday) was just his personal view, especially after he was dropped from the Supreme Council.

“Any movement outside the party’s constitution is a private effort and cannot be said to represent Umno,” he said.

At a press conference on Monday, Tajuddin said Zahid had been running the party like a one-man show, with decisions by the Supreme Council heavily influenced by the president, and council meetings held just “for show”.

He said this led to a movement within the party to submit a memorandum to Zahid for him to step down as president “in the interest of Umno” involving 130 division chiefs.

He alleged that the movement was led by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan.

He also named former prime minister Najib Razak, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin as others involved in the movement. He claimed they had a meeting at his home to discuss the matter.

However, he said the push for Zahid’s resignation failed as Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, backtracked on his intention to hand over the memorandum to the Umno president.