PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has urged Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to step down as Umno president.
The outspoken Pasir Salak member of parliament said Zahid was a liability because of his ongoing court cases.
This comes a few days after Tajuddin was sacked from the Umno supreme council.
Tajuddin said party leaders involved in any court case should not hold any position in the party or cabinet.
"In the interests of the party, it is time for him to step down and give the Umno president's position to other qualified leaders.
"Furthermore, at the moment, (Prime Minister and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri) Ismail Sabri (Yaakob) commands majority support among the grassroots," he said in a tell-all press conference here today.
The Malaysian ambassador designate to Indonesia also claimed that an alleged movement urging the Bagan Datuk MP to step down as Umno president was nothing new and had, in fact, kicked off in 2020.
He claimed that the movement, headed by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and included Barisan Nasional advisory council chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was also backed by 130 party divisions.
"At that time, we agreed to come out with a memorandum asking him to step down.
"Who's the leader of the movement? Tok Mat (Mohamad), Bossku (Najib), where we managed to gain the support of 130 (division) leaders. We had held a discussion at my residence on the memorandum," he said.
Tajuddin also produced a copy of a photograph of the said meeting at his house in Bukit Damansara in May 2020.
The movement, however, he said, was derailed after some leaders, including Mohamad, backed out.
He claimed Mohamad's change of tune came about after he was threatened by "budak Zahid" (Zahid's people).
Tajuddin also claimed that the rumoured statutory declaration (SD) signed by Umno federal lawmakers to back opposition parliamentary leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister was real.
He claimed the movement to sign the SD was headed by Zahid to make way for a new political alignment in the country.
"They clamoured about no Anwar, no DAP… come on. I am the living proof (that the SD existed).
"At first I did not want to sign the SD. However, after he 'masam muka', I eventually conceded and signed the SD," Tajuddin revealed.
