Has Zahid lost control of Umno? Only over MPs, say analysts

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Some people may be thinking Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has lost control of his party since most Umno MPs are refusing to toe the party line and withdraw support for the Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government.

But this is not so, according to two analysts. They told FMT that Zahid still had the trust and support of the Umno grassroots.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya (UM) said MPs with ministerial posts and other government positions only appeared to have the upper hand over Zahid because of his exclusion from the Cabinet.

Noting that Zahid was the first Umno president without a Cabinet position, he said this made it easy for him to be belittled by Umno members with government positions.

- More -