Zahid Hamidi: Anwar Ibrahim’s assassin

Zahid Hamidi started his climb up the political ladder as Najib’s political secretary. Anwar actually planted Zahid in Najib’s office to watch over the then Youth Leader and Defence Minister (earlier Youth and Sports Minister). Zahid was not the only ‘plant’ of Anwar’s. Anwar also planted Kamaruddin Jaafar in Tun Ghafar Baba’s office as the Deputy Prime Minister’s political secretary.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Roaring Mukhriz, wounded Hishammuddin

By Habhajan Singh, The Malaysian Reserve

When Umno goes to its next internal polls, expect Mukhriz Mahathir to launch his next attack. Unless it is deferred, that would be sometime in 2016.

Mukhriz may have lost in the race for the VP post in the just-concluded Umno polls on Saturday, but he is far from losing the battle. Youth is still on his side.

The Umno 2013 election results will be thoroughly dissected in the coming weeks.

Interested parties would want to understand the Umno mind. The results will tell them what ticks the Umno mind, represented by the 146,500 delegates who voted.

Umno leaders can make things happen. The business folks know this. So, backing the right horse will matter to them. Hence, the interest to understand the Umno mind.

Mukhriz, son of the former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is one of those young and able horses. His spirited attempt to grab a VP slot was closely watched. He failed, but only by a whisker.

In the process, one incumbent was quite thoroughly shaken and stirred. Hishammuddin Hussein, a minister since December 1999, emerged a wounded lion.

He barely made it to the finishing line along with the two other incumbents — Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Minister of Rural and Regional Development Mohd Shafie Apdal.

The final tally was Zahid (188), Shafie (177), Hishammuddin (101) and Mukhriz (93). The two other contenders — Mohd Isa Samad (7) and Mohd Ali Rustam (7) — made no headway.

When Umno goes to the polls again in 2016, Mukhriz will certainly be more prepared.

This time around, he was late to the party, starting his campaign only closer to the polls. He had kept everyone guessing whether he wanted to mount a VP challenge or just be content with a seat in the Umno Supreme Council.

When The Malaysian Reserve interviewed him in early September, this is what he said: “I’m still undecided. It’s a tough decision to make.” Though late off the bloc, Mukhriz had the advantage of the campaigning booster from his dad, Mahathir, who still hold sway on some Umno members.

In the run-up to the next party elections, it would be less of his dad. Mukhriz would have to slug it out purely on his own merit.

So, for now, it is time to head back to Alor Setar and get some work done to earn his keep as the Kedah menteri besar.

But you can expect him to travel to Kuala Lumpur and the other corners of the nation to build his base.

As for Hishammuddin, he badly needs to shake off the image of being weak and ineffective.

Otherwise, he may find it tough to take on the next fight, if and when it comes.

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Most of the talk the last couple of days is regarding Hishammuddin Hussein and Mukhriz Mahathir — the number three and number four winners in the Umno Vice Presidency race. Mukhriz was short of just eight votes to grab the third slot in the tussle for one of three Umno Vice Presidency posts.

Why so much focus on number three and number four and not talk about number one instead? Furthermore, the chap who got number one, Zahid Hamidi, won with about double the votes (188) versus number four, Mukhriz (93).

I suppose this is because numbers three and four are both sons of previous Prime Ministers and it appears like Malaysian politics is very dynastic in nature — even for the opposition where sons or daughters inherit the leadership from their fathers or mothers. Hence most are more concerned about the contest for the third slot between the sons of Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

As I said in an earlier article, Tun Dr Mahathir ousted Tun Hussein to take over as Prime Minister in 1981. And Tun Dr Mahathir used the pardon for Datuk Harun Idris as the catalyst to oust Tun Hussein. 

Datuk Harun was then serving time in the Pudu Jail after being convicted of corruption. Technically, he did receive a bribe of RM3 million from a leading foreign bank. However, he did not personally receive the money or benefitted from the money. Someone else physically received the money and the money went to Umno, not to Datuk Harun.

But then Datuk Harun was the then Menteri Besar of Selangor and he (verbally) approved the kickback for Umno, although he did not receive the money with his own hands. Hence Datuk Harun was arrested, charged, put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to six years jail for the money that Umno received.

Just before he went to jail, Datuk Harun attended the Umno supreme council meeting and told all those around the table that his crime is not corruption. His crime is ambition. He aspired to become the next prime minister. Hence they needed to send him to jail to prevent him from becoming prime minister. “If corruption is really the issue,” said Datuk Harun, “Then everyone around this table would be joining me in jail.”

While in jail, Datuk Harun contested the Umno party election and won. Hence the Umno members did not really think that Datuk Harun was guilty of corruption, or they did not care — like in the case of Shahrizat Jalil who still won the Ketua Wanita Umno’s post in spite of the Cowgate scandal.

Anyway, because of this, Tun Dr Mahathir told Tun Hussein that Datuk Harun should be pardoned. Tun Hussein, however, refused to do so and told Tun Dr Mahathir that Umno has to choose between him (Tun Hussein) and Datuk Harun. Tun Dr Mahathir told Tun Hussein that Umno has chosen Datuk Harun.

On principle, Tun Hussein resigned and Tun Dr Mahathir took over as Prime Minister — after which he pardoned Datuk Harun who served only three years of the six years sentence. (He was even called to the Malaysian Bar after that).

Interesting, is it not? How many knew how Tun Dr Mahathir ousted Tun Hussein? So people expect ‘bad blood’ between Tun Hussein (who never joined Umno Baru and died outside Umno) and Tun Dr Mahathir (who Tun Husein said had ‘killed’ Umno).

And that is why everyone is focusing on the sons of these two ex-Prime Ministers — who won the numbers three and four slots in the Umno Vice Presidency race.

But what about, Zahid Hamidi, the person who won the top slot with about double the votes? Don’t you want to talk about him? After all he won first place and at quite a wide margin on top of that. And if ‘they’ manage to somehow oust Najib Tun Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin takes over as Prime Minister, then Zahid is going to be the new Deputy Prime Minister.

Zahid was once an Anwar Ibrahim ‘soldier’ who won the Umno Youth Leadership in 1996 with Anwar’s support. Zahid’s ‘obstacle’ was Rahim Thamby Chik who, in 1994, against Tun Dr Mahathir’s wishes, was pressured by Anwar into resigning because of the sex scandal with the underage girl, which also saw Lim Guan Eng spend a stint in jail.

In fact, Tun Dr Mahathir told Rahim not to resign but he did anyway. Tun Dr Mahathir said, ”I know Anwar wants power but this is not the way to do it.” Reluctantly, Tun Dr Mahathir accepted Rahim’s resignation and said that Rahim is free to nominate his successor for Chief Minister, which he did (Mohd Zin Abdul Ghani).

Anwar was actually planning to bring down Tun Dr Mahathir back in 1994 and he was using Zahid for that. After helping Zahid secure the post of Umno Youth Leader, in 1997 Anwar asked him to reveal all the corruption and wrongdoings perpetuated by Tun Dr Mahathir. Tun Dr Mahathir then retaliated by also revealing Anwar’s corruption and wrongdoings — and Tun Dr Mahathir’s list was even longer than Zahid’s list.

In fact, Zahid himself had some shit. In 1995, Anwar appointed him a director of Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), agencies under Anwar’s control. He was also a Marketing Executive for Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad, Executive Director for Scandinavian Motors Sdn Bhd, Chief Executive Officer of Kretam Holding Berhad, Chairman of Tekala Corporation Berhad, Chairman of Seng Hup Berhad, and Chairman of Ramatex Berhad — all courtesy of Anwar.

Hence Zahid himself was an Anwar crony who benefited from his relationship with Anwar. And Tun Dr Mahathir revealed this plus the names of the other Anwar cronies and family members who benefited at Anwar’s hands.

That was probably Anwar’s biggest political blunder ever. He forgot the adage: if you live in a glasshouse do not throw stones — plus ‘let he who has not sinned cast the first stone’.

That was more or less the beginning of the end for Anwar and the final nail in his coffin was hammered two years later on 1st September 1998. But Zahid was the one who got the coffin ready when he revealed the list of Tun Dr Mahathir’s corrupt acts and misdeeds. That was a real stupid move and suddenly the moral high ground that Anwar stood on became quicksand.

Not a very clever person this Zahid Hamidi, don’t you think so?

Zahid started his climb up the political ladder as Najib’s political secretary. Anwar actually planted Zahid in Najib’s office to watch over the then Youth Leader and Defence Minister (earlier Youth and Sports Minister). Zahid was not the only ‘plant’ of Anwar’s. Anwar also planted Kamaruddin Jaafar in Tun Ghafar Baba’s office as the Deputy Prime Minister’s political secretary.

Two people (other than Rahim Thamby Chik who he had killed off earlier) were in the way of Anwar becoming the Deputy Prime Minister — Ghafar and Najib — so Anwar wanted his people as their political secretaries. A very clever move indeed, I must say. And once he made Deputy Prime Minister, he tried to use Zahid to expose Tun Dr Mahathir hoping that once Tun Dr Mahathir has been publicly embarrassed he can then be asked to resign so that Anwar can take over.

So that is the man called Zahid Hamidi. He was Anwar’s plant in Najib’s office and the assassin who was supposed to drag Tun Dr Mahathir’s name through the mud so that the coast would be clear for Anwar to become the new Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Would it not be poetic justice if one day Zahid ends up as the Deputy Prime Minister and thereafter the Prime Minister while Anwar continues screaming on the outside and continues dreaming a dream that will never come true?

Well, in politics anything can happen. I mean, whomsoever thought that Najib would become Prime Minister with so much baggage that he is carrying? So let us wait and see what happens over the next three to four years. Maybe 2020, Tun Dr Mahathir’s date for ‘Wawasan 2020’, would be when Malaysia will see Zahid Hamidi take over as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia.