Malaysian PM Ahmad Zahid faces criminal breach of trust, says expert

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Malaysian PM Ahmad Zahid faces criminal breach of trust, says expert

Mr Ahmad Zahid faces 47 charges 12 for criminal breach of trust CBT eight for corruption and 27 charges for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to charity foundation Yayasan Akalbudi YAB He is the foundation's trustee and sole signatory for cheques. The hearing for the YAB trial is ongoing.

Ms Aira told CNA Asia First that we all need to keep the government accountable and that none of the abuses of power of the past will happen.

There may be a difficult, long and winding road ahead, according to Ms Aira, given the upcoming polls of the BN component party UMNO, where Mr Ahmad Zahid's position as president could be challenged.

He might have challenges to that position, especially now that UMNO is split in many ways. What happens to him if he loses the party election firstly, and secondly, what happens if he is found guilty? She asked.

She said that the party's upcoming annual assembly from December 21 to 24 could change the situation.

During that assembly, unhappy delegates can pressure the division chiefs who can then put pressure on the party president, Zahid Hamidi, possibly pushing him out of the coalition, she said.

She said that Mr Anwar needs to balance these factors and try to keep his government together.

Political analyst Ariel Tan told CNA 938 s Asia First that UMNO knows that it is critical to have Mr Anwar in the fold because they bring the branding of the Malay, Muslim party, even though they have lost support among the Malay community.

If Mr Anwar continues to keep them happy, he should be able to get their support, going into the vote of confidence challenge when Parliament sits on December 19, said Tan.

She said that the PN coalition could be given a bigger role in parliamentary committees as a result of the calls for a reconciliation between the ruling Pakatan Harapan PH and its rival Perikatan Nasional PN For instance.

Another option is appointing an opposition leader, so that the opposition has fair funding and representation at both the federal and state levels. Mr Anwar could also consider an agreement with the opposition, as former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob signed one with PH, Ms Tan said.

I think the opposition's motivation to play nice would be that the electorate is tired of political instability. It is tempting for PN to try to undermine Pakatan Harapan the same way they did before and try to get back into power, she said.

Power is tempting and very seductive because of power, you get resources, you get prominence, and that will help them in the next election, so they can't wait too long to get back into power. Ms Aira said that Mr Anwar would take over the finance minister's portfolio. She cited what happened to former prime minister Najib Razak, who was also finance minister and jailed 12 years earlier this year for graft and money laundering.

I don't know if this prime minister will change his decision, but I do hope that this kind of abuse of power doesn't happen again, because Malaysia can't afford another 1 MDB scandal, she said.