BOMBSHELL - ALL EYES ON ZAHID'S HEALTH - WHETHER OR NOT HE HAS CANCER, IF HE OPTS TO RETIRE AFTER SURGERY - THEN ANWAR & 'MADANI' GOVT MAY HAVE ALREADY COLLAPSED

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now! 

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi is
in good shape and recovering after undergoing surgery on Thursday (Nov 16), says his daughter as the rumor mills grinded overtime of an earlier-than-expected power shift.

As Umno's president and top decision-maker, Zahid's health is watched by many in the government as well as in the opposition. His support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is seen as pivotal for the survival of Anwar's ineffective 'Madani' government.

“Thank God, Abah is well after undergoing a surgery procedure on Thursday (November 16) which was supposed to have initially taken place earlier due to time constraints and a packed schedule," Nurulhidayah Zahid shared the news on Instagram.

“I just wish to remind everyone, do not play with news concerning sickness and death. Do not simply pray for unpleasantries. Do not share unverified news. Whatever we pray will eventually come back to us.”

However, she did not give any details as to what her father was being treated for - and as such, failed to douse the rumors that Zahid had cancer and the surgery was to remove a growth.

SHOULD ZAHID FALL OR RETIRE EARLY

Should Zahid fall, his successors in the once-mighty Umno might opt to withdraw support for Anwar's increasingly unpopular administration and re-align with other coalitions. A walkout with other government coalitions including the GPS and GRS to form a brand new government with the main opposition bloc PN-PAS is certainly possible.

UMNO-PAS-BERSATU-GPS-GRS? pic.twitter.com/91fKBEZTn8

— Solisidtor (@Solisidtor) November 18, 2023

Should Zahid be compelled to retire early due to health reasons, his immediate successor would be Defence Minister and the Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan. However, special meetings and resolutions could be passed so that the Umno No.1 post is contested and a new president is elected into office.

Such an eventuality would open the door for Hishammuddin Hussein, a former minister who has been suspended for six years, and Ismail Sabri, a former prime minister who has been pushed out into the cold, to return to power in Umno.

Both Hisham and Ismail were punished for going against Zahid's decision to align Umno with Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat coalition and form a 'unity government' in late 2022. They had preferred that Umno backed the Malay-centric PN-Pas, led by another former premier Muhyiddin Yassin.

Even the cautious Mohamad Hasan has previously titled towards PN-Pas although in the end, he decided to back Zahid.

A day ago, while in Kemaman to mark the nomination day for a by-election due to be held on Dec 2, Mohamad Hasan had raised eyebrows by sitting with political foes from Bersatu and Pas. Their friendliness and familiarity with each other was obvious and no attempt was made to hide this from the press that swarmed the event. 

It immediately triggered speculation of a new alliance consisting of Umno-Pas-Bersatu-GPS-GRS.

MIC ALREADY RARING TO GO?

M Saravanan

It has not escaped notice that MIC, a component party in the BN coalition led by Umno, has already fired a warning shot at Anwar.

"We support the government of the day as the King has decreed. We are very clear that we will not ask for positions in the government, but we want recognition," MIC deputy president M Saravanan had told a crowd of more than 1,500 delegates present at the party's meeting held on Saturday (Nov 18).

“If we don’t get due respect, the party leadership will announce our next course of action."

While Saravanan did not specify what sort of 'action', his meaning was not lost on followers of Malaysia's hyperactive political scene. 

The MIC had openly supported the leadership of Muhyiddin and later on Ismail Sabri as prime ministers over Zahid, although as the Umno-BN boss he had greater entitlement to its backing.

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

Politics Now!