KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) vice-chief Muhammad Shakir Ameer Mohideen today claimed that should Barisan Nasional (BN) win the Johor state election, it would pave the way for Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to become Malaysia’s 10th prime minister — leading to the premature closure of several court cases involving Umno leaders. 

Shakir also claimed that BN’s slogan to sell the concept of stability as its theme at the Johor state polls is dishonest and will trigger a power struggle among Umno leaders as the party’s election is due to take place soon, adding that this would only make the country’s politics a mess. 

"With the leadership of Umno president Zahid Hamidi, BN wantsto use the momentum from the victory it had in Melaka to gain a comfortable mandate in Johor so that it could force the dissolution of Parliament for the next general election. 

"If BN’s momentum continues, this will further strengthen the Umno president and enable him to claim the prime minister’s position. With Zahid Hamidi as 10th prime minister, the corruption, the breach of trust and money laundering court cases that he and his cohorts are going through, will likely be closed,” he said in a statement today. 

He said that should this happen, foreign investors would shy away from Malaysia as they take into consideration the country’s current political climate and corruption index. 

"If investors are wary, they probably won't invest in our country and will likely increase the unemployment rate. 

"Even with the current situation, we have lost investments to other South-east Asian neighbours,” he said. 

He also pointed out that during the Melaka state election recently, BN did not receive a significant increase in votes as compared to the previous elections — at the same time calling for those living outside Johor to return and cast their vote for Pakatan Harapan (PH). 

"In the last Melaka state election, BN did not receive a significant increase in votes. 

"Therefore, it is important that voters from outside of Johor come back and vote for PH to prevent Umno from dismantling our country’s politics — which will gradually recover so that people can continue living without any uncertainty,” he said.