MALAYSIA — Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, President of Barisan Nasional (BN), Malaysia’s biggest political coalition, gave a stern warning to his BN component parties that they must win the upcoming election dominantly, and that it “is now or never. The current election is the “Mother of all Election”.”
“If we lost, our fate will be worse than PRU 14. Not only I will face prosecution, Tok Mat (BN Deputy Chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan), you are in the waiting list. ” said Zahid.
This was said by the BN President at the gathering organised by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) gathering this Monday (10 Oct).
On that same day, Malaysia announced the dissolution of its 14th parliament. A date will be set soon by the Election Committee on when the election for its 15th parliament will take place — This would likely be in November.
Currently, BN’s component parties consist of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), MIC, and United Sabah People’s Party (PBRS).
“Tan Sri Vicky (MIC president S.A. Vigneswaran) don’t laugh, you are also included! What more Datuk Seri Saravanan (MIC deputy president)? (MCA president Datuk Seri Wee) Ka Siong, they won’t forget you, you’ll be charge as well. ”
His speech was met with laughter from his BN colleagues. He stressed that BN must win Malaysia’s 15th General Election (GE15) or Pilihan raya umum (PRU) 15 dominantly to avoid these political prosecutions. Since BN lost the government in the last election, its leaders have been prosecuted for various offences and former Prime Minister Najib Razak is currently in the jail, having been sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment over seven charges of graft .
Zahid himself, had recently been acquitted of all 40 graft charges against him in Foreign Visa System (VLN) case; but he is still facing 47 other charges of criminal breach of trust, graft and money laundering in the Yayasan Akalbudi case.
“We are not challenging the judicial system, but to challenge the “political accusation” and “selective prosecution” as they (opposition) have acted vindictive toward BN leaders.”
He claimed that he and other BN leaders were charged in the court of public opinion, but he believes that the “truth will reveal.”
Zahid claims his words have been “spun by BN enemies” after receiving backlash
Zahid has since received backlash from Malaysian netizens since he delivered his speech.
Netizens have criticized that certain leaders in BN are trying to save themselves from prosecution and conviction, despite BN leaders kept reinstating that calling for an early election is to “return the mandate to rakyat”.
Zahid had previously advocated for an early election and BN had no issue with campaigning even during monsoon, mocked the opposition parties for being worried about losing in the GE.
Zahid had posted on his Facebook fanpage, to further explained that he was referring to “selective and political prosecution ”, which might BN leaders face if their “enemy” win the GE 15.
“BN enemies will abuse power to make political charges”, he claims that his words have been twisted by those “BN enemies”, and people should wary so as not to be deceived by such political spins.
“That’s how they won GE14 by twisting, confusing and inciting the people.”
Some netizens questioned Zahid whether he was implying that all his colleagues with court cases are “politically prosecuted” if they follow their “politician cypher”.
Some others expressed their disappointment toward UMNO as they only desire to win this election merely to rescue their leaders, and one such netizen wrote that she hopes Malaysia voters will not vote to this party anymore.
Netizen Aiman Shaukie sarcastically “agreed” with Zahid that the “prosecution” was “selective” as the party itself had chosen those who abuse power and are corrupted.
Another, Tengku Ngah Putra speculated that Zahid’s unspoken word from his speech is that the BN leaders can be acquitted from court cases as the judiciary will bow down to BN’s instruction if they manage to win the upcoming GE; or they will spend the rest of their life in jail if BN loses.
Pekan UMNO division had earlier said that it will stick to naming Najib as a potential candidate for the Pekan parliamentary seat. Najib has filed for a review to overturn his conviction and has also sought a royal pardon.
It has also been reported that Malaysia’s Director of Prisons Department, Nordin Muhammad has said that Najib will not be allowed to go out to campaign during the upcoming general election as long as he is still serving his jail sentence.
“The situation and regulations are still the same…So long as he is still serving a sentence in prison, he is subject to the Prisons Act and regulations,”
