KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today failed to produce in court a letter he had concerning an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the formation of a new cabinet.

The Umno president who yesterday pledged to show the letter in court today, however, explained that he had failed to obtain the letter from the Prime Minister's Office.

His excuse was that, the Prime Minister's political secretary had yet to be officially appointed and therefore could not issue the letter.

Zahid then stood up in the dock and apologised for all that had happened.

"I am sorry," he said.

However, his apology did not appease deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran who said Zahid's failure to produce the letter showed that he was again making up stories.

"Yesterday, he said he had the letter with him but now he says the letter could not be issued.

"He said on record that the letter was sent to him. The accused is again making up stories," she said adding that it was clear that there was never a meeting with the Prime Minister scheduled at all.

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah is expected to decide whether Zahid should be cited for contempt shortly.

The contempt proceedings against Zahid were initiated after his lawyers applied for an adjournment yesterday by informing the court that he had to attend a meeting with the prime minister to discuss the formation of a new government.

His lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said his client's presence was crucial during the meeting as Zahid needed to discuss the formation of a new Cabinet with the PM.

However, the prime minister's office later issued a statement contradicting what was said in court.

It was stated that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was not scheduled to meet any politician yesterday.

This led to Raja Rozela filing the contempt proceedings and Zahid was recalled to explain himself at 4pm yesterday.

Zahid, 67, is facing 47 charges, with 12 of them involving criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of Ringgit of funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.