Leaked audio clip of voices sounding like Zahid, Anwar being circulated

PETALING JAYA: An audio clip of a conversation between two voices sounding like Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has gone viral, discussing the former's performance at the recent Umno annual general meeting (AGM).

The conversation between the two also said there was a need to hold an extraordinary Umno supreme council meeting to mandate the president to enable him to make the decision to leave the Perikatan Nasional government.

Umno's resolution at its AGM stated that the party will only break ranks with the Perikatan government after the dissolution of the parliament.

The audio clip, which sounded like a telephone conversation, has the voice similar to Ahmad Zahid's thanking the other for being his "teacher".

The voice sounding like Anwar then said he was impressed with Ahmad Zahid's performance during the AGM.

The voice can also be heard saying that Ahmad Zahid must prepare to hold an extraordinary Umno supreme council meeting to iron things out and that he must get one of the Umno ministers to resign from the Perikatan government.

Both, however, agreed that no Umno ministers would resign.

The voice that sounded like Anwar's pointed out that Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah looks the most likely to be the first to do so.

It also told the other person to tell "Midah that Anwar is very proud of Ahmad Zahid".

Ahmad Zahid's wife is Datin Seri Hamidah Khamis.

The conversation, which lasted more than four minutes between the two, was mostly interspersed with happy laughter.

At the beginning, the voice sounding like Anwar said that this was the first time he was following the Umno AGM after 20 years, having been sacked from Umno in 1998.

The purported Ahmad Zahid then pacified the other that his speech of "No Anwar, No DAP" was only tactical.

At one point, the voice sounding like Anwar said,"Of course, we want to finish the game but if you think of the mandate, there is some work to be done with the Umno supreme council.”

To this, the voice sounding like Ahmad Zahid said that it would be easy to deal with Umno supreme council.

"I heard your speech, not bad, not bad! Good! Good! I am very impressed. I am very proud of you. Your winding up was very confident - good!

"The mood is clear, everyone (in Umno) solidly wants to leave Perikatan, right?" asked the Anwar sound-alike.

The other replied,"When the supreme council gives the mandate to the president, this is easier than getting a resolution.”

The voice that sounded like Anwar also warned that "the game has to finish" and there is still much to be done to get a full mandate from Umno supreme council.

With much laughter, the voice that sounded like Ahmad Zahid mostly thanked the other for guiding him well during the Umno AGM.

"You know who is my teacher, right? My teacher who taught me is the one I am talking to right now," said the voice.

On March 28, at the Umno AGM, Ahmad Zahid's speech called out Umno leaders who insisted on working with Bersatu.

Ahmad Zahid had proposed that all Umno ministers resign from the Perikatan government as he claimed that the one-year-old Bersatu-led government did not give its due to Umno as the biggest Malay party.

Last October, a purported letter of support signed by Ahmad Zahid and sent to the Palace supporting Anwar as the next prime minister was circulated.

Ahmad Zahid never denied the letter, but he has stuck to "No DAP No Anwar" during the Umno supreme council meetings.

In recent days, some Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders had challenged Ahmad Zahid to deny that he was working with Anwar.

Efforts are ongoing to contact Ahmad Zahid and Anwar for their response to the leaked audio clip.