The former Umno Supreme Council member told the Dewan Rakyat he had “no problem” with the suspension and that he was “still with Umno”.

“The suspension isn’t a death sentence. What’s the issue?” he said during the question-and-answer session this morning, when an opposition MP interjected to ask if he would still be a candidate in the next general election.

On Saturday, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi confirmed that Tajuddin had been suspended for six years after the party’s top leadership met last Friday.

Tajuddin fell from grace after he became critical of Umno following his removal as a Supreme Council member in June. He had also called on Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign as Umno president after his removal.

Meanwhile, Tajuddin asked how Putrajaya planned to overcome the labour shortage in industries, claiming that the issue had caused billions in losses for the electrical and electronics industry because of the inability to fulfil orders.

Economic affairs minister Mustapa Mohamed said the human resources ministry was working on addressing the matter with the relevant agencies.

“Some 450,000 foreign workers have been approved to be brought into Malaysia, but so far, only 100,000 have entered the country,” he said.