WHILE veteran politician Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said he will not leave UMNO and will be the last person to do so, he also took jibes at UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan for the party’s poor performance in the last general elections.
Ahmad who is also Finance Minister 1 in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government, has however advised his suspended party colleague Tajuddin, who is serving a six-year suspension, to let bygones be bygones.
Ahmad defended himself against the accusations by Tajuddin. He said he was not the only adviser to Deputy PM Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the party when he was the then secretary-general.
“The UMNO president’s advisers include the top five, the 21 political bureau members, and the 56 supreme council members. I am the executor of the decisions of meetings A, B, and C,” he claimed in a Twitter posting today.
On the other hand, Tajuddin has also said he urged UMNO leader and Zahid to lift his suspension with immediate effect.
The former three-term MP for Pasir Salak said this will help him contribute and campaign for the party in the upcoming state polls.
Tajuddin pointed out that he had appealed three times for the suspension to be lifted, while adding that he is not going to leave UMNO.
“I am loyal to UMNO. UMNO has contributed a lot to me, and I have contributed a lot to UMNO. Why should I leave? It would be foolish for me to leave UMNO,” he reportedly said.
“Even if I’m the last person remaining, I will not leave UMNO,” he told reporters at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) yesterday (June 9).
It is said that those leaving the party to join Bersatu have dangled his name too, as another member quit the ailing Malay party.
In his appeal to the party leadership to lift the suspension against him, he said he knows the weaknesses of the PAS and of Bersatu. However he needs ‘keris’ to fight them.
“Don’t treat me like a child, I have my dignity. I know the weaknesses of PAS, I know the weaknesses of Bersatu, and I know all the weaknesses of Perikatan Nasional (PN).
“I want to fight (bersilat) in the state elections, how can I fight without a keris? Give me the keris (lift the suspension).
“If you don’t give me the keris, how can I help UMNO go into battle?” – June 10, 2023
