Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi charged over corruption as Umno’s implosion continues
- Several prominent Umno members have been charged over corruption and six of its 54 members of parliament have resigned
- Observers believe Umno’s disintegration could result in one-coalition federal rule, given the lack of any other viable opposition
Malaysia’s former ruling party faced yet another blow to its leadership on Friday when its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was charged in court with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering. The charges were the latest in an anti-corruption dragnet that has also led to the arrests of several political leaders, including former premier Najib Razak and party supreme council member Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim.
Zahid was arrested yesterday by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission after several rounds of questioning. The lawmaker claimed trial to 45 counts of corruption and money-laundering in connection to the misappropriation of some 114 million ringgit (US$27 million) in funds, some of which came from his family-run charity Yayasan Akal Budi, of which he is the chairman.
If found guilty, Zahid could face up to 20 years in prison, caning and a fine. Najib, who is also facing a series of corruption charges, was present at court earlier to show support for his former deputy.
We are being unfairly targeted by the new government
The question of Zahid’s future has wider implications as it directly affects his party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), of which he became president earlier this year after Najib stepped down due to the party’s performance in the elections.
With the charging of several prominent Umno members for corruption and the resignation of six of its 54 members of parliament, the former ‘grand old party’ of Malaysian politics risks becoming irrelevant.
Umno formerly chaired Malaysia’s oldest coalition, Barisan Nasional, before the pact was decimated in the May general elections that led to opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan forming government for the first time after 61 years of Barisan Nasional rule. It then proceeded to form a loose alliance with the nation’s conservative Islamic party, PAS – a party which had long been its enemy – to lobby for the conservative Malay vote. PAS had previously promised to institute an Islamic government if it came to power.
However, insiders report the party is in disarray and has split into factions – a liberal camp keen to reinvent the party in the hopes of future electoral success and upset over its alliance with PAS, and a camp as yet unable to accept its towering defeat that believes they are being singled out for their political views by former Umno strongman Mahathir Mohamad, who resigned to start his own party in 2016.