The Malaysian Insight

IT is within the Umno president’s right to remove any appointed members from their position in the party’s Supreme Council, said Shahidan Kassim.

The Arau MP said this being the case, he did not have any issue with his removal from the party’s highest decision-making body by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“I have no problem with this. However, I have not been officially notified about my removal. I only learnt of it from media reports,” Shahidan told a press conference tonight.

“I am trying to contact the party secretary-general (Ahmad Maslan) about my removal (as Perlis liaison chief). This is not a problem.

“It is within his (Zahid’s) right to replace anyone he wants to.”

Earlier today, Zahid, in a statement, announced that Shahidan has been replaced as Perlis Umno liaison committee chairman by Menteri Besar Azlan Man.

However, he did not give any reason as to why Shahidan, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Umno leadership, was removed.

“We would like to thank Shahidan for his contributions,” the statement read.

As a result of being dropped, Shahidan will not be able to attend the party’s Supreme Council meeting tomorrow, which is due to discuss if its party election is to be held in June or postponed to a later date.

Shahidan said he had arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Perlis to attend the Supreme Council meeting tomorrow.

He vowed to continue fighting for Umno’s success in Perlis at the next general election, saying that he had successfully led the party and Barisan Nasional (BN) to victory in the state in the last election.

He said BN had a two-thirds majority in the Perlis assembly when it won 10 of the 15 seats it contested and retained two of the three parliamentary seats.

“I am a staunch supporter of the president, but if I am no longer trusted by him … never mind,” he said. – April 24, 2021.