KOTA KINABALU, Jan 27: Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin has denounced those calling for party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s resignation as members who disrespect the party’s constitution.
Speaking to FMT, he said no party member had the right to tell a constitutionally elected president to resign.
“I support the constitution and the rules therein,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to ask him to step down.”
He said any member eyeing Zahid’s post should wait for the party polls to fight for it.
Dissatisfaction with Zahid’s leadership seems to be growing among grassroots leaders, with a divisional chief claiming his weakness as a president was causing “havoc” in the party.
Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan yesterday issued a statement pleading for party unity.
He described the calls as impolite and against Umno’s culture and said members must guard against being disrespectful of the institution of president.
“We can have different opinions and aspirations because Umno is democratic, but not to the point where it leads to disputes and eventually divisions in Umno,” he said.
“A little seed of division between us will give our opponents the opportunity to break Umno apart.”
Sabah Umno Youth chief Abdul Aziz Julkarnain has also backed Zahid, saying it was his quality as a “transformational leader” that had enabled him to empower the party’s youth and women’s wings.
He also praised Zahid for agreeing to allow Sabah Umno to chart his own course.
