Ahmad Zahid should step down - Onn Hafiz

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi today said UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should resign immediately following Barisan Nasional's (BN) dismal performance in the 15th General Election (GE15). ).

Onn Hafiz, who is also the Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) Election Operations director said the BN chairman (Ahmad Zahid), needs to step down from continuing to hold the position of UMNO president for the sake of the party's interests and future.

The Machap said that changes needed to be made because many UMNO, MCA and MIC leaders of calibre and potential lost in GE15 because BN did not want to listen to the pulse of the grassroots.

"We are all have to acknowledge that a Malay political tsunami has occurred, where the Malays have rejected UMNO. UMNO has fallen apart.

"UMNO and BN only won nine parliamentary seats in Johor. We did not win a single parliamentary seat in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Melaka, Kelantan and Terengganu.

"Although it is bitter pill to swallow, UMNO leaders including myself need to go back and listen to the voice of the people which was translated through their votes in the 15th General Election yesterday," he said in a statement uploaded on his Facebook today.

He said efforts to revive and improve the party need to start from now and if changes are not made immediately, UMNO and BN will not win a single seat in the future.

As such, he said Ahmad Zahid should be big hearted and resign as (UMNO) president as soon as possible, just as Datuk Seri Najib Razak did in 2018 (following BN's defeat in GE14 that year).

"God willing, this big-hearted action will help us take the first step to revive and strengthen UMNO, the party that we all love.

"All their (leaders') sacrifices will be appreciated and InsyaAllah, this struggle will continue. May Allah SWT bless and have mercy on all of our struggles and sacrifices," he said.

In GE15, BN only won nine out of the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor, namely Simpang Renggam, Parit Sulong, Ayer Hitam, Pontian, Kota Tinggi, Tenggara, Pengerang, Sembrong and Tanjung Piai. Johor used to be a BN fortress until GE14.

Pakatan Harapan won 14 seats, Perikatan Nasional (PN) two and Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) one.

At the federal level, BN, having set out with confidence to retake the government in Putrajaya, suffered the worst defeat in its political history when it won only 30 seats out of the 178 it contested.

-- BERNAMA