UMNO Supreme Council member Isham Jalil has lambasted Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu for suggesting Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be relieved of his duty as Deputy Prime Minister pending the conclusion of his court cases.
Isham said rather than sticking his nose in UMNO leaders’ court cases he should focus instead on the issues faced by his own party’s leaders.
“Faizal Azumu, I suggest you mind your own business with regards to the deputy prime minister post. This matter should be left to the discretion of the prime minister, not you or your party members,” the UMNO information chief said in a Facebook post.
“Rather than you sticking your nose into the UMNO leaders’ court cases that had been ongoing for the past four years thanks to the ‘selective prosecution’ by leaders from your party, you or the members of your party should be ready to face the music and 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 Datuk Seri 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 former prime minister Datuk Seri 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 warned.
In response to Isham’s “suggestion”, Faizal tweeted: “As a Malaysian, obviously it’s my business, bro. It’s almost time [for prayers], quickly go and perform wuduk (ablution). We should perform our Friday prayers and then we diss the man who burned the Quran in Sweden. Let’s go.”
As a Malaysian, obviously it’s my business, bro. 😁😁 Dah nak masuk waktu, cepat ambik wuduk. Kita solat Fardhu Jumaat, then kita kutuk Mamat yg bakar Quran kat Sweden tu. Jom? pic.twitter.com/HROLOSED3A
— Faizal Azumu (@PejaOfPerak) January 27, 2023
Yesterday, Faizal, who is also the former Perak menteri besar, urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to relieve Zahid of his duties as deputy prime minister in view of his ongoing court trial.
He said this is because Zahid’s position in the government while he undergoes graft proceedings exerts undue pressure on the courts.
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 as deputy prime minister.
The court is withholding his passport as one of the conditions of his bail pending the outcome of his corruption trial.
In an affidavit in support of the application, Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, said he had been mandated by Anwar to represent him in several administrative matters, and not having his own passport poses a hindrance to his duty as the deputy premier.
Zahid’s passport was previously surrendered to the court as an additional bail condition after he was charged with 47 charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering involving Akalbudi Foundation funds, of which the proceedings are now at the defence stage. – Jan 27, 2023
Main pic credit: Bernama
