Umno chief Zahid pushes PM Ismail for early elections

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday urged party members to push for the general election to be held as soon as possible and to call for a royal pardon for jailed former premier Najib Razak.

"We must be ready to support a petition campaign to pardon (Najib) when the time comes. We leave it to the wisdom of the King to assess and carry it out in future," Zahid told hundreds of Umno leaders and members gathered for a special briefing at its headquarters.

The briefing took place four days after Najib began his 12-year prison sentence for graft linked to the 1MDB financial scandal.

Zahid, who claimed that Najib is a victim of political persecution, has never asked for Najib's charges to be dropped.

Other speakers at the event included Najib's children Mohd Nizar and Nooryana Najwa. Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor was also present.

Najib's two lawyers who represented him at the trial, Mr Shafee Abdullah and Mr Zaid Ibrahim, also spoke from the stage at the cavernous Umno meeting hall, repeating some of the arguments they used to defend Najib.

The High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, involving a total of nine judges, had concurred that Najib was guilty of charges brought against him, after RM42 million (S$13 million) of public funds were found in his private account.

Zahid, who is facing 47 graft charges in connection with his charity foundation, said he would be bringing the party's call for Parliament to be dissolved soon at the supreme council meeting, which took place after the briefing.

The Umno chief, who like Najib is 69 years old, denied that he wanted to push for early polls because he was afraid of being convicted. "I still believe that our judiciary system does not side with anyone," he said.

Zahid choked up when he thanked Rosmah and the children for attending the event.

Reflecting the party's infighting, several Umno leaders, including Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is an Umno vice-president, were absent from the gathering. Datuk Seri Ismail was in his constituency in Pahang to officiate an event.

Also missing from the stage at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, where the Umno headquarters is located, were Cabinet ministers in the Ismail administration - Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim and Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa.

Boos were heard when Zahid mentioned Mr Ismail's name during his speech, as the crowd felt that the Prime Minister was delaying the party's calls to quickly dissolve Parliament. Zahid has been pushing for early polls for months, while Mr Ismail has said he wants to concentrate on reviving the economy and containing inflation.

Shouts of "bubar" (dissolve) were repeated throughout the meeting, as well as "Malu apa, bossku" (There's nothing to be ashamed of, my boss), the battle cry of Najib's supporters. Most of the attendees were dressed in red, one of the colours of Umno.

"You are all alone, daddy. He is now in his 70s. You should not be spending your days like this," said Ms Nooryana tearfully.

A video showing Najib at past events and meeting people, including former United States president Barack Obama, was played during the briefing.

Mr Ismail later attended the Umno supreme council meeting.

The chairman of Umno's political foe Perikatan Nasional (PN), Mr Muhyiddin Yassin, said Umno's top leadership is pressuring Mr Ismail for snap polls because it is getting desperate.

"We are ready to enter the ring and fight!" Tan Sri Muhyiddin said at PN's convention yesterday.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said the jailing of Najib should end his political career "for the foreseeable future", and that the Umno politician is unlikely to get a royal pardon soon, as he faces four more trials.