In September and October, Zahid decisively moved against his opponents. Well-known supporters of Ismail Sabri like Shahidan Kassim and Annuar Musa were dropped as parliamentary candidates and potential rivals such as then minister of health Khairy Jamaluddin were parachuted into hostile constituencies. Zahid got an additional boost when he was acquitted of one set of corruption charges.
In December, Zahid’s pact with Anwar resulted in a good haul of ministries for UMNO. He secured the deputy prime ministership and rural development portfolio, Mohamad Hasan was appointed to defence, and the vice president most allied to him, Khaled Nordin, got higher education. Senior figures such as Ismail Sabri and Hishammuddin Hussein were bypassed; the remaining Cabinet members are not alternative centres of power.
In January, the UMNO general assembly resolved to exempt the top two positions (president and deputy president) from being contested. Immediately after, a group of senior UMNO leaders were purged or side-lined. Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor UMNO chief Noh Omar were sacked while several others, including Hishammuddin and former information chief Shahril Hamdan, were suspended.
UMNO’s party elections were held this month and Zahid’s control is almost absolute. In addition to his deputy, Mohamad Hasan, two of the three vice presidents are allies. Khaled Nordin retained his position and newcomer Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail is also a Zahid associate. Supporters clinched the Youth and Puteri wings and a solid proportion of the incoming Supreme Council.
ZAHID’S GRIP ON UMNO COMES AT A COST
Yet, Zahid securing UMNO’s position in government and his grip on the party has come at a cost – the party’s electability.
Zahid’s persistent pushing for elections has been out of sync with the public zeitgeist. Lingering COVID-19 worries, inflation woes, and floods meant that electioneering was far from people’s minds. Furthermore, the argument that the party needed a resounding mandate when it was already in power was unconvincing.
Zahid’s undercutting of rivals also dented UMNO’s electoral performance. For example, after being dropped from the UMNO slate of candidates, Shahidan Kassim moved to PN. BN then was unprecedentedly routed from Perlis. Going forward, the purging of Khairy and Shahril Hamdan may dent UMNO’s appeal in urban areas.