.jpg)
By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright November 2022
Two-Thirds of Tiny Perlis Are Going into battle with Zahid Hamidi over Zahidi against Zahida and a street fighter of Arau versus an unknown.
A battle is now brewing in a tiny state of Perlis where Zahidi will now contest Zahida in a big field and Shahidan will be fighting an unknown in the royal district of Arau.
These are rumbles or early warning signs of more troubles to come against UMNO President Zahid who has remained in power because he is perceived to be avoiding an AGM afraid of being challenged at internal party polls.
For a small state like Perlis where a university convocation becomes a big event with out-of-town family cars almost shutting down all roads, these recent "fights" are indeed battles far bigger than World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that many local villagers still believe is for real and landing on the moon is fake news.
Some villagers in Perlis couldn't believe their ears when they heard that Shahidan the "Street Fighter" of Arau who used to challenge hecklers to a fight when he was speaking on stage, is now out of the contest and his buddy in Padang Besar, Zahidi from the biggest field in the north was also ejected along with him by Jahid Comedy.
Two videos went viral almost immediately. Other minor ones followed.
One was on dismantling of Shahidan's preparation on the ground by his representatives and another about Shahidan himself challenging Zahid to resign and the latter's decision for not re-fielding him in his old constituency.
A third is from a local Padang Besar UMNO member who called upon Zahid to resign immediately for contravening party convention by appointing an outsider to the constituency.
Zahidi has come forward with his views about the unfair decision-making within UMNO. Both are ready to move out of UMNO with Shahidan challenging Zahid to dismiss him.
Zahidi says he would follow in the footsteps of party veteran Shahidan to run against the BN candidate to win his seat in GE15. Zahidi said he was determined to contest against BN's candidate in Padang Besar, Zahida Zarikh Khan. (Newswav)
Shahidan feels that Zahida has a poor chance of winning because the grassroots "want locals to represent them." (Newswav)
In addition, Zahidi too announced he would be part of Mufakat Nasional just like Annuar Musa has done earlier when not chosen as a candidate for GE15 on his own turf of Ketereh.
They'll contest either as independents or as candidates for the opposition. Perikatan Nasional (PN) has since invited Shahidan to join them and contest in his current constituency. Shahidan Kassim has confirmed that he will be contesting under the Perikatan Nasional ticket in Arau for GE15. (Malaysia Now)
Meanwhile, Zahidi described UMNO as being in a state of disarray with potential winning candidates replaced by new faces. (Newswav)
Meanwhile in Gerik, a fight broke out when the names of candidates were announced by a local BN chief.
Zahid has lost his grip and his credibility not only because of these recent developments but largely due to his inability to exercise his authority as an elected party leader. From within they are rumbles that might lead to more leaving the party soon enough.
From the outside, he is seen as a weak leader for his failure to govern as a legitimately elected President.
UMNO's annual general meetings had been postponed several times to avoid Zahid himself from losing his post as President.
Shahidan issued a challenge to Zahid to dismiss him, and so did Annuar Musa and Zahidi. In addition, Shahidan has asked Zahid to resign for causing discord within the ummah.
These are the beginnings of small rebellions within an old party against a President who is perceived as illegitimate because he persisted for years on the throne governing with an iron fist.
Zahid must take these small "fires" seriously because we regard this is the beginning of the end for him.
The great Roman Empire might be too big to compare with UMNO but it collapsed because the Emperor had lost touch with Viceroys in foreign lands on the ground far away from Rome. Perlis is not too far from Kuala Lumpur but is remote and its two MPs are not pleased with the President on the Iron Throne.
Zahid ought to take Shahidan's advice seriously too and quit before the masses decide to eject him unceremoniously from office.
Or with more cases looming on the horizon he might even lose his throne soon after GE15.
The little state of Perlis is just like a cat that roared. It has started a rebellion and the president ought to take note of the example from this tiny cat in the North.
Zahid better be warned because we suspect that they are others out there ready to pounce and they are not little.
Share your experiences, dreams and hopes for #GE15 and stand a chance to win cash prizes up to RM16,500! Find out how you can participate here.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.