KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki rubbished claims that the party’s president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to interfere with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s ongoing appeal against his SRC International conviction at the Federal Court.

He said that it was a baseless allegation as the prime minister has no prerogative to interfere with the country’s judicial system.

“What is the logic in urging the prime minister to intervene in the SRC case that has reached the Federal Court level?

“After all, it is not the prime minister who appoints the Federal Court judges presently, not like in the days of Tun Mahathir who was involved in the selection of judges as claimed by Tommy Thomas, in his capacity as a former attorney general in his book My Story: Justice in the Wilderness,” he said in a statement on Facebook today.

Asyraf was responding to an Astro Awani report which claimed that the majority of Umno division chiefs had rejected a motion from the party’s top brass to convince Ismail Sabri to interfere with the judicial process.

A source close to the matter informed Astro Awani that they did not agree with the instructions issued by the Umno leadership, adding that some of the division heads in attendance were forced to attend or risk losing their chance to contest the 15th general election (GE15).

Earlier today, it was reported that Umno’s emergency meeting seems to have invited more questions than answers, as conflicting information abounds on the points of discussion and the ensuing decisions.

For a start, the exact number of division chiefs who turned up for the meeting is still unknown, with Sungai Besar division leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos claiming that all division leaders present had unanimously urged Ismail Sabri to call the next general election (GE15).

Najib’s final appeal against his conviction of misappropriating funds from SRC International enters its final leg tomorrow at the Federal Court.

The hearing at the country’s supreme court at the Palace of Justice had been scheduled to take place over nine days, from August 15 to August 19 and will resume from tomorrow to August 26.

If his conviction is upheld, the former prime minister will be sent straight to jail for 12 years and required to pay a fine of RM210 million.