Malaysia’s Umno purges Khairy, Hishammuddin as party leader Ahmad Zahid fends off rebellion for now

Former Covid tsar and defence minister among key members who got the boot from Umno for demanding party boss Ahmad Zahid’s resignation over poor election showing

Experts says while the infighting could inject fresh complication into Prime Minister Anwar’s shaky ruling coalition, Umno president can’t keep the sidelined political ‘blue bloods’ at bay for long

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Former Malaysian health minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 4:00pm, 28 Jan 2023

A purge by Umno leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed Malaysia’s former Covid tsar Khairy Jamaluddin as its highest-profile casualty late Friday, as recriminations tear at a party once seen as the natural steward of Malaysian power following its poor showing in November’s elections.

Umno’s infighting injects a fresh complication into Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s attempts to move on from caustic divides at the heart of Malaysia’s politics and focus on policy, just two months since he took office.

Ex-foreign and defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein was also suspended by Umno’s supreme council on Friday along with several others for insubordination against corruption-mired party president Ahmad Zahid, who a fortnight ago vowed to “reset” the party as critics sought his resignation.

Under Ahmad Zahid, Umno, and its Barisan Nasional bloc carried 30 seats into Anwar’s alliance, handing his erstwhile rival the premiership, forming a shaky coalition government of opponents.

His control of Malaysia’s oldest party was cast into doubt by the November election result, which saw Umno shed support after years of corrosive corruption scandals to win just 30 seats from the 177 it contested.

Khairy, who challenged Ahmad Zahid for the president’s post in 2018, was among the key party leaders openly calling for the Umno strongman’s resignation, saying that he had “no moral authority” to continue in the role.

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