KUALA LUMPUR – Umno’s president does not need to negotiate with anyone on the party’s appointments to its top decision-making body, said Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
Shabery said Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s appointments comprise 13 posts in its top decision-making body – the working committee council – out of a total of 25 Supreme Council members selected from the party’s internal polls.
In a Facebook post, Shabery said the party’s president did not need to consult anyone else in the party in order to make the appointments, including the posts of secretary-general, treasurer, and information chief.
At the party’s divisional level, the former minister said, division chiefs have the prerogative to appoint 10 divisional committee members, half of the total of 20 selected from the party.
“The president does not need to negotiate with the deputy, and the division chief does not need to negotiate with the deputy (either),” Shabery said.
Shabery’s Facebook post comes just two days after senior Umno lawmaker Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was removed as a Supreme Council member.
Previous reports said Zahid ended Tajuddin’s tenure as an appointed member of the Supreme Council, but did not elaborate on the reason.
Tajuddin had contested and lost the party vice-presidency during its internal election in 2018, before being one of 14 members co-opted into Umno’s highest decision-making body.
The Pasir Salak MP’s removal comes less than a year after he was stripped of his position as Umno election director, after a rumoured falling out with Zahid.
Shabery said the discretion of the president and division chiefs consolidated their positions and made the party institution more stable.
“It is hoped that these (appointees) will defend the leader who appoints them. If there are differences between them, there must be negotiations with those who appointed them.
“Do not air out disagreements in public. If one still cannot agree (with their leader) it is better to step down.” – The Vibes, June 24, 2022
