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By Murray Hunter
UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been the deputy prime minister for over six and a half years across two governments - the Datuk Seri Najib Razak (2015-2018) and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (2022-present) administrations.
It is very difficult to find a politician in such a position not having any ambition to one day become the prime minister himself.
Zahid has been in Malaysian politics since before 1986, when he was appointed political secretary to Najib when he was the Minister of Youth and Sports.
A decade later, Zahid became the Umno youth chief and entered parliament through the Bagan Datuk seat, where he was born, which he has held since 1995.
In 2000, Zahid became a member of the Umno supreme council, becoming a deputy minister in 2004.
In 2015, Zahid had his first stint as deputy prime minister under Najib until 2018, when Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) and became the government.
Soon after Umno lost the 2018 election with Najib stepping down as Umno president, Zahid took over the reins of power.
In 2022, Zahid led Umno to a crushing defeat in the polls, where the party won only 26 seats.
Umno lost 28 seats, with Zahid himself only just scraping back into his own seat on a few hundred votes.
Amid calls for Zahid to stand down, he managed to mastermind a coalition that put Anwar Ibrahim into power, forming the ‘unity’ government.
Zahid was appointed deputy prime minister by Anwar, even though he still faced 47 criminal charges in court.
Zahid had known Anwar since his early Umno days, where Zahid served under Anwar, who was then deputy prime minister until 1998.
Zahid was standing right behind Anwar, back in 1998, when Anwar gave a speech after his sacking from all party and government positions by then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.
In the Madani government, Zahid immediately became a hero to many Pakatan Harapan supporters for being the quantity that got Anwar to the position of prime minister, showing his unquestionable loyalty to Anwar.
Zahid has served Anwar loyally for more than three and a half years as deputy prime minister and has played the role of acting prime minister when Anwar has been abroad.
However, those close to Zahid comment on his frustration.
Zahid remains controversial due to issues of corruption around him.
Even though Zahid received a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for the 47 charges of corruption and money laundering in the Yayasan Akalbudi case, many believe this is not enough to clear his name.
The Malaysian Bar Council has just won the right to review Zahid’s DNAA in the court.
The pathway to premiership
There has always been talk that one day Zahid will make a move to become prime minister.
However, Zahid has been loyal to Anwar, even handling the Negeri Sembilan issue, where he brought the 14 Umno ADUNs back to the unity government.
However, with talk of an early general election coming sometime in 2026, there have been a number of moves in and around Umno that look like the party will go independently in GE16 of the Madani coalition.
This has shattered early proposals that Pakatan Harapan and Umno would campaign together to continue the Madani legacy in GE16.
The complex manoeuvres in Negeri Sembilan, where 14 Umno ADUNs just left the government, then returned to the Madani fold, are strange, but also point to other possibilities.
With a state election in Melaka coming up later this year and rumours of an early state assembly dissolution in Johor, the stable image and solidarity of the Madani government are being strained.
There appears to be pressure on Umno to make a move which is politically wounding Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The recent release of the PKR internal polling survey shows great party vulnerability, and Bersatu is in disarray. Together with the recent pig farming issue in Selangor, there looks like a potential optimum electoral opportunity for Umno to jump in and take.
Logically, it would be in Pakatan Harapan’s interests to run a full term and go to the people at the end of next year, but the Umno loyalists are creating speculation aimed at undermining the current government.
In addition, Umno controls several government agencies which are assisting in creating this anti-Madani sentiment. This has been happening completely unimpeded.
What Zahid’s Umno wants to achieve in the coming general election
In the coming general election, UMNO must win more seats than any other Malay-based party.
If that occurs, then Zahid would be the ‘natural’ nominee to the YDPA to become the prime minister.
If Umno comes in second to PAS in the number of seats won, which is more likely, then it will be a matter of negotiation to determine which party would nominate their representative for the position of prime minister.
In this situation, it would be Zahid’s ability to be able to pull together a coalition to create a government that may give him the credence to be the one considered as the prime ministerial candidate in a coalition put forward to the YDPA to approve.
Winning the most seats would provide Zahid with the ability to nurture a new coalition to become the prime ministerial candidate.
This will be the immediate focus after the coming general election, as there will most likely be a hung parliament once again.
This is Umno’s game plan.
Umno requires Pakatan Harapan to perform poorly in the coming general election to achieve the above.
However, this doesn’t discount Anwar from still being able to come up and obtain a second term as prime minister.
Anwar must lead Pakatan Harapan to at least 65 seats to be the largest grouping in the new parliament.
In this position, it would be expected that Anwar would be requested by the YDPA to form a new government.
If Anwar can muster those numbers, which is very possible, integrity will allow Zahid to support Anwar as prime minister once again.
GE16 is going to be a tight election. – May 9, 2026