Zahid begged me to arrange ‘Ramadan’ meeting with Dr M, says Khairuddin

Khairuddin Abu Hassan rejects a claim by the Umno acting president that he was invited to meet the prime minister.

(FMT) – Former Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan has revealed that Umno acting president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had pleaded with him to arrange a meeting with Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya earlier this month, rejecting a claim that it was a request by the prime minister.

In a strongly worded statement to FMT, Khairuddin also rejected Zahid’s claim during a speech to Selangor Umno members yesterday that Mahathir had asked Umno members to join PPBM.

“He (Zahid) is a liar. Every word he utters is a lie,” said Khairuddin, who was among the pioneer Umno members who left the party at the height of the 1MDB exposure in 2015.

After meeting Mahathir on June 9, a month after Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the May 9 election, Zahid shared a picture of him with the PPBM chairman, saying his visit was in conjunction with the holy month of Ramadan.

“May this meeting bring benefit to all,” he had said then.

But yesterday, Zahid, who is among the candidates vying for the Umno presidency later this month, told party members in Selangor that the meeting was on Mahathir’s invitation.

“It wasn’t me who asked to meet, I was invited,” said Zahid.

“In the meeting, the prime minister had among others asked that BN MPs, especially from Umno, cross over to PPBM. I made it very clear that there is no way for us to join PPBM,” said Zahid.

But Khairuddin today said Zahid had contacted him to arrange a meeting with Mahathir.

“After he pleaded with me to meet Mahathir, I arranged for him to meet the prime minister.”

He said Zahid’s claim was part of his campaign for the Umno polls.

“His political speech has no basis. This is the quality of Umno leaders who are good at cheating their members for political survival. Mahathir has never asked Umno MPs to cross over to PPBM.

“Every Muslim returns from Mecca and turns repentant and pious, but Zahid came back to continue lying,” said Khairuddin.