Friday March 20, 2009

Dr M: Zaid’s plea to King on Najib ‘very stupid’

KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rubbished a statement by former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim on the country’s leadership transition.

On Wednesday, Zaid urged the Yang di-Pertuan Agong not to appoint Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the new prime minister.

Describing the statement as “very stupid”, Dr Mahathir said Zaid was a person who would party-hop.

“Why should the Yang diPertuan Agong listen to the opinion of only one man? And the person who made that suggestion is not even a credible figure,” he said.

“Takkan Yang di-Pertuan Agong mahu dengar cakap katak. (I don’t think the Yang diPertuan Agong would listen to a frog),” he told reporters at his office here, yesterday.

On the disqualification of Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam to contest the Umno deputy presidency, Dr Mahathir said it was “peculiar” that Mohd Ali had maintained his position as the Malacca Chief Minister.

“There was a case of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad who was thrown out because he was involved in money politics and he also lost his position as a minister (Federal Territories Minister).

“What will the public think of Mohd Ali remaining as Chief Minister? We will hear it in the next general election,” he said.

Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Zaid’s statement was irresponsible and malicious and would not contribute towards uniting the rakyat.

“Instead, he clearly has the motive of causing uncertainty among Umno members and the public at large,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Muhyiddin said it was obvious that Umno’s power transition was running smoothly and that it was proven that Najib had gained the trust of many Umno divisions to be the next party president.

He said by convention and Barisan Nasional tradition, the Umno president was the most qualified person to lead the country.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal described Zaid’s statement as devoid of logic as it had been the practice to appoint the Umno president as the prime minister.