TANGGA BATU - Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been urged to resign as Deputy Prime Minister if he is not aligned with the current government leadership.
Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) chief Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim said Zahid should do so if he has any self-respect, given the stance he is showing at present.
He said several other Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders were qualified to replace Zahid in the post.
“If he has any self-respect, he should step down as Deputy Prime Minister because he is clearly showing an attitude that is out of step with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“There are many other leaders, such as Tok Mat (Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan), Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani or Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who can take his place as Deputy Prime Minister,” he said at a dinner event in Bukit Rambai on Thursday.
Asked whether the Prime Minister should sack Zahid from the post, Kamil said it was up to Anwar to decide.
“You have to ask the Prime Minister. He can replace him with someone else, no problem, because that is the Prime Minister’s prerogative.
“But if you ask me, there is no need to sack him. If he has any self-respect, he should step down as Deputy Prime Minister,” he said.
Earlier, DAP national chairman Gobind Singh Deo challenged Zahid to resign as Deputy Prime Minister if he no longer had confidence in the current government leadership, rather than pressing for Parliament to be dissolved early.
Gobind described the BN chairman’s statement as inappropriate, especially as he holds the second-highest position in the country’s administration.
However, Zahid stressed that there was no issue of BN ministers not supporting Anwar’s leadership at the federal level.
He also explained that, throughout Cabinet meetings, there had never been a situation where BN ministers disagreed with unity government policies or differed in opinion with the Prime Minister.
He said differing stances among political parties at state level, particularly during elections, were each party’s right and should not be linked to support for Anwar’s leadership.