Mind your own business, Isham tells Faizal Azumu on Zahid as DPM

Isham Jalil said Ahmad Faizal Azumu and his fellow party members should be more concerned over allegations of vote-buying and ‘misappropriation of government funds’.

(FMT) – An Umno leader has hit back at Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu for suggesting that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be relieved of his duties as deputy prime minister in view of his ongoing court trial.

Umno information chief Isham Jalil said Faizal should instead focus on the issues faced by his own party’s leaders.

“Faizal, I suggest you mind your own business with respect to the deputy prime minister post.

“This matter ought to be left to the discretion of the prime minister, not you or your party members,” he said in a Facebook post.

Isham said Faizal and his fellow party members may end up becoming “court cluster 2.0” over allegations of vote-buying and misappropriation of government funds.

Presently, the term “court cluster” refers to prominent Umno leaders, including Zahid and former prime minister Najib Razak, who are either on trial or have been convicted on charges such as criminal breach of trust (CBT), abuse of power and money laundering.

Isham claimed that many Bersatu’s leaders had previously “escaped prosecution” by being part of Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

“Do you think that your fellow party members and you can escape action by distracting the public with other issues and by calling your own corruption ‘donations’? The people will not forget,” he said.

Yesterday, Faizal urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to relieve Zahid of his duties as deputy prime minister in view of his ongoing court trial.

This comes after Zahid applied to the Kuala Lumpur High Court for the permanent return of his passport so that he can carry out his official duties smoothly. The court is withholding his passport as one of the conditions of his bail pending the outcome of his corruption trial.

In an affidavit, Zahid said he needed his passport to effectively carry out his duties, which includes official trips overseas.

Faizal claimed that Zahid’s application would disrupt and delay the trial, since the Bagan Datuk MP would be away on official duties, thus prolonging the case.

Zahid is accused of 47 counts of money laundering and CBT involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister in the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.