Time for a shake-up at the top, says FT Umno Youth chief as pressure mounts on Zahid

The Federal Territories Umno Youth has thrown its weight behind calls to change the party’s top leadership, saying party polls should be held this year to replace the current line-up.

The wing’s chief Mohamed Nizham Abdullah Hamidi said not only should Umno be revamped, its top leaders should be acceptable to members as well as the public.

“Umno needs a total revamp. Umno needs an Avengers team, someone who is not only accepted by the members but also by the people,” Nizham said in a statement cited by Astro Awani.

The call comes in the wake of remarks by two divisional Umno Youth chiefs from Johor and Negeri Sembilan, urging party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign.

In the last two days, Pontian Umno Youth chief Helmi Buang and his Seremban counterpart Zool Amali Hussin have openly called for Zahid’s removal, in a sign of growing disenchantment with their president’s recent move to support PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to topple the government.

In October, MalaysiaNow revealed the contents of a letter to the palace jointly written by Zahid and former party chief Najib Razak, expressing support for Anwar’s bid to become the prime minister through the defection of MPs.

Since winning the Umno presidential contest weeks after the party’s fall from power in the 2018 election, Zahid has faced several calls from various Umno divisions to resign.

In late 2018, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki urged Zahid to take leave from his post, following multiple corruption charges against the former deputy prime minister. Zahid eventually took a break, but returned six months later despite his ongoing corruption trials.