GE15: I would not have given Khairy a seat if we had issues, says Zahid

BAGAN DATUK: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi maintains that he has no problem with Khairy Jamaluddin.

The Umno president was asked to comment on Khairy's remark that the party is "in need of fresh air".

"Khairy should be the one to explain what he means by that.

"I don't have any feud with him. If I had one, I wouldn't list him as our candidate (for GE15)," he told reporters at Dewan Rumah Awam Bagan Datuk here Monday (Nov 14).

On Saturday (Nov 12), Khairy said Umno needs to show that it is changing, with new leaders led by Barisan Nasional's prime minister-designate Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Separately, Ahmad Zahid, who will be defending his Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat, said former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been holding a grudge against him since he defeated Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik to be Umno Youth leader in 1996.

"Dr Mahathir wanted Abdul Rahim to win. At the time, I was just a normal Bagan Datuk MP but I defeated other well-known candidates.

"Since then, he has been holding a grudge against me.

"He even had me arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) when I spoke out about nepotism and cronyism," he claimed.

Ahmad Zahid alleged this eventually led to his Yayasan Akalbudi court case.