Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Tajuddin was not the most “credible” person given his missteps and controversies in the past, one of which led to his sacking as Prasarana Malaysia Bhd chairman last year.

“Not many people will believe Tajuddin’s claims as he has proven to be a liability during his tenure as Prasarana chairman.

“His claims are also unlikely to have a negative impact on Zahid and the party given that he has no influence over other members,” he told FMT, adding the allegations were also unlikely to be taken seriously as it came days after Tajuddin was removed from the Umno Supreme Council.

At a press conference today, Tajuddin claimed that he was a “living witness” to Zahid’s efforts to get Umno MPs to sign statutory declarations (SDs) backing opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister. He also accused Zahid of making decisions for the party unilaterally.

The Pasir Salak MP also alleged that 130 Umno division chiefs, led by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, wanted Zahid to step down as party president in 2020.

Tajuddin then urged Zahid to resign as Umno president “for the sake of the party”, to allow Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to take over the top post.

Azmi said he does not think Umno will act against Tajuddin over the allegations, seeing as how the ambassador-designate to Indonesia was no longer a top party leader.

Another analyst, Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Tajuddin could be hauled up to face disciplinary action, but the controversial MP was unlikely to resign from Umno.

However, Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia said Tajuddin’s comments showed that Umno was imploding, and many other parties would be implicated if it was true that Zahid made efforts to back Anwar as prime minister.

Last week, Tajuddin was dropped from the Umno Supreme Council, reportedly because Zahid felt he had been critical of the party.