THAT UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s popularity has skyrocketed - for the wrong reason - to a level more popular than incarcerated ex-premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak when UMNO was brought down to earth during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 should set the alarm bells ringing for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Describing Zahid’s popularity as “extraordinary”, Johor PAS Youth information chief Abdul Rahman Faudzi expressed concern that this would make Pakatan Harapan (PH) which leads today’s unity government today “be embroiled in a wave of rejection by the people of Zahid”.

“In the social media realm - whether Facebook, Twitter or Tik Tok - we will definitely be served with materials in the form of criticism and people’s anger towards this unfortunate UMNO president,” Abdul Rahman wrote in PAS mouthpiece HarakahDaily.

“If there were still Malays who were willing to support Zahid before GE15, now that he has teamed up with Anwar and DAP, surely a large number of Malay supporters will ‘lift their feet’ and walk away.”

Abdul Rahman further took a potshot at Zahid by wondering how Zahid, who defended his Bagan Datuk parliamentary constituency with a slim majority of 348 votes could contribute to the PH cause.

“How can president of a Malay party who has fought for the Malays and Malaysia since independence for almost 66 years only get a very low majority like this?” teased the PAS Youth leader.

“If we compare the vote count with the majority achieved by PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang in the Marang parliamentary constituency which is 41,729 votes, Zahid is left far behind. It’s like heaven and earth.”

Abdul Rahman further observed that the very significant difference and voter support for the PAS president are in tandem with PAS’ contribution to the country over the years.

“Imagine after this when Zahid aligns himself with Anwar and DAP, surely two-third of the Malay voters in Bagan Datuk will be disappointed and leave UMNO. So do other UMNO supporters across the country,” he cautioned.

“UMNO’s fate is rather unfortunate. It is gasping for air in the political arena as a result of a weak president whose court case (on 47 corruption charges) can kill UMNO’s political future.”

Further stressing that Zahid is a clear-cut liability to UMNO and PH, Abdul Rahman does not have high hopes for the longevity of Anwar’s Madani administration.

“There are too many parties who are not satisfied, including the most important stakeholders in democracy in this country, the people,” he justified. “Surely the people will punish the government of Anwar and Zahid in the upcoming state election. UMNO will be ‘slaughtered’ alive. PH will be dragged along.” - Feb 2, 2023 

https://focusmalaysia.my/zahids-unmatched-popularity-could-be-a-liability-cause-of-phs-downfall-in-state-polls/