Zahid Hamidi panicking: wants snap GE15

(FMT) – Some 158 Umno division leaders are calling for the 15th general election to be held immediately, party leader Jamal Yunos said.

The Sungai Besar Umno chief said the demand will be relayed to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the next Supreme Council meeting.

“This is a majority decision, we want the general election to be held immediately,” he said when met by reporters here.

Umno has 191 divisions nationwide.

Menara Dato Onn has been the centre of media attention since this morning after word spread of a WhatsApp message from Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan stating that Zahid and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan wanted to meet division heads for an “urgent and important” meeting regarding “a very important issue for the party’s future”.

Asked if the meeting that lasted nearly four hours also touched on the court case of former prime minister Najib Razak, Jamal said: “It was not discussed at all.”

It is understood that the meeting which Zahid chaired was not attended by Ismail and fellow vice-president Mahdzir Khalid.

“Mahdzir did not attend as he had some special tasks at the ministry. The prime minister was also unable to attend as he said he had a meeting,” said Jamal.

Mahdzir is the rural development minister.

Earlier, FMT reported that the emergency meeting of all Umno division leaders was related to candidate selection for the upcoming general election.

An Umno source told FMT the meeting was called as some leaders were not satisfied about not being nominated for GE15, which was giving Zahid a “headache”.

The general election has to be held by September next year, but some Umno leaders have pressed for it to be called this year, following convincing victories for BN at recent state elections.