IPOH, Aug 16 — Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said Perak Umno fully supports Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as party president.

Saarani said that the matter was decided in the party’s liaison meeting yesterday, where they reached a consensus to back Ahmad Zahid despite various calls for the deputy prime minister to step down from the party president post following poor performance at the six state elections.

“Our argument is that for many years DAP has lost in the elections in the past, but no one called for Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang to resign.

“And for decades, PAS has also lost in the elections many times, but no one asked the party president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang to step down,” he told a press conference after attending the Programme Mesra Hari Bertemu Pelanggan at the Stadium Indera Mulia here.

In the recent polls on August 12, Umno had a disastrous outcome when it only won 19 seats out of the 108 seats it contested.

Umno candidates lost all the seats it contested in Terengganu and Kedah and only won two in Penang and Selangor respectively, and one in Kelantan, although it fared better in Negeri Sembilan with 14.

Despite Umno’s disappointing performances in the state elections, Saarani pointed out that it wasn’t as bad as the failure suffered by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates, where 18 of its candidates lost their deposits.

“Umno (candidates) did not lose their deposit. Why are there no calls for the PN chairman to step down?” he asked.

Saarani also said that there were no guarantees that PAS would support Umno or that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia would deregister itself and have its member rejoin Umno should Ahmad Zahid resign.

“We will not dance to their tune, my advice to Umno members is to ignore the comments from the outsiders,” he added.

Saarani also said that those who urge Ahmad Zahid to step down are not Umno members.

“For example, former secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa and former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin, are not Umno members anymore.

“Annuar should just focus on his own party now. They should not disturb Umno.

“It is weird that they still comment about us. Do they still miss us?” he asked.