The Umno vice-president, who is discharging the duties of Umno deputy president, said the top Umno leader had been hurled with numerous slanders and accusations to kill public confidence in him although the leader had a good and clean track record.
Nonetheless, he said, Umno continued to be strong because the party leader struggled for an inclusive agenda encompassing the various ethnic groups, religions, and communities despite the fact that the core of Umno’s struggles centred on the Malays and the sanctity of Islam.
“I fear that this ‘killing’ will occur to other groups (the opposition). We know that frequent attempts to ‘kill’ Umno have been made.
“However, due to hard work and prayers, Umno still exists not only ‘horizontally’ but also ‘vertically’ to the extent that the strengthening of Umno can be felt.
“In fact, in such a situation, Umno continues to be the backbone of the Barisan Nasional (BN),” he said.
Zahid said this in an interview in the programme, “Ruang Bicara Khas”, produced by Bernama NewsChannel in conjunction with the 2017 Umno General Assembly.
Commenting further, Zahid said such attacks would continue to be repeated with different storylines, particularly in the run-up to the 14th general election (GE14).
From poison pen to cybertroopers
He said this was compounded by accusations hurled online, which had become the source of public information compared with conventional media, to the extent that public opinion had been blurred.
“We notice that the communication system has changed. Previously, we had poison pen letters, then there were ‘hate’ booklets and now there is no need for these poison pen letters and hate booklets.
“The people are now exposed to online media which no longer place priority on journalism ethics. Even worse are the cybertroopers who add more problems to the situation by blurring public views and distorting the objectivity of the public,” he said.
Zahid lamented how it was common for negative issues, such as those concerning leaders, to be easily accepted by the public while it was difficult for the truth to be accepted.
“False news dissemination is the new approach because of the borderless world, and the sky is more open and the world has become universal.
“This is a force that we cannot avoid, but God has given us a brain, so think wisely,” he said.
‘Accused of murder’
However, Zahid said that Umno, as the main pillar of Barisan Nasional, had been most fortunate as it had a president – and the nation’s prime minister – who had extraordinary resilience and that this should be emulated by all party members.
“The people know that allegations hurled against Prime Minister Najib Razak were numerous, including that he was once accused of murder when the case that we all knew of had been thrown out, or the accusation that he purportedly robbed money from a government investment fund, or that he had received political funds from a friendly country which was purportedly used for personal interest.
“Such accusations are aimed at killing his character and I feel that is an agenda planned by his political enemies to erase the public’s confidence in him,” Zahid said.
Thus, he added, it was crucial for the Umno machinery to implement proactive online efforts to answer all the issues raised because they could change public perception on the efforts made by the government to look after the interest of the people and country.
Nonetheless, Zahid said efforts must be wisely and prudently made as Malaysians, particularly the Malays, never liked any approach that was shameful, negative and hitting below-the-belt in tackling issues raised.
He added that Umno members should cooperate and strengthen the spirit of togetherness in facing issues that attacked the party and leadership.
“We must have self-confidence and believe in our party leadership because if we lack the confidence in ourselves, the party and our leader, then our history is doomed,” Zahid said.