‘Zahid need not go on leave as SOP applies only if Umno in govt’
KUALA LUMPUR: The standard operating procedure (SOP) that requires senior Umno leaders to take leave if they are charged in court is applicable only if the party is part of the government.
Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa said it did not apply to party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the party had yet to draft any SOP since becoming the opposition.
He said only the Umno Supreme Council had the authority to decide, adding that the issue of whether Zahid needed to take leave following his criminal charges was not in the party’s constitution or rules.
“When we were part of the government, if someone was charged (in court), the SOP would apply. But as the opposition, we have yet to have an SOP. This is new for us. We need to discuss it.
“The term SOP is inaccurate as in this case, the Supreme Council makes the decision,” he said at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.
Annuar was asked to comment on a statement by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan on the party’s SOP, gazetted in 2009, which stated that senior party leaders were required to go on leave if they were charged in court.
Annuar said there had yet to be any formal discussion on Zahid’s status. He said the Supreme Council might discuss it in next month’s meeting.
“We have to decide (a date for the discussion). We do not see it as a pressing matter.”
Zahid was charged with and pleaded not guilty to 45 counts of criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering.