SELANGAU – Caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today admitted that he was quite disappointed when some of his Umno “friends” in the cabinet were not selected to represent the party in the coming general election (GE15).
Ismail Sabri, who is Umno vice-president, said despite being dropped, some of them had stayed loyal to the party and were even prepared to ensure victory for Barisan Nasional (BN).
“We will never forget their deeds. Especially when they chose to stay loyal to the party even though they were not selected to contest.
“I personally feel quite disappointed when my friends, who are winnable candidates and have contributed so much to the party, could not contest,” he told a press conference after officiating the Selangau section of the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway project here today.
The four ministers dropped from Umno’s list of candidates for GE15 were caretaker federal territories minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, caretaker communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, caretaker science, technology, and innovation minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, and caretaker national unity minister Datuk Halimah Mohamad Saddique.
Among them, Shahidan decided to contest in GE15 on a Perikatan Nasional-PAS ticket to defend his Arau parliamentary seat.
When asked whether those who stayed loyal to Umno would be appointed to hold important posts if BN wins the election, Ismail Sabri said: “Let’s win it first and we’ll decide later.” – Bernama, November 14, 2022
