PETALING JAYA: Ahmad Maslan has defended himself against former Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s accusation that the former had failed in his previous role as the party’s secretary-general.
Tajuddin, who is serving a six-year suspension from Umno, yesterday accused Ahmad of failing to advise party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi properly, saying it was one of the reasons for Umno’s poor showing in the last general election (GE15).
In a Twitter post, Ahmad said the Umno president is advised by the party’s deputy president, three vice-presidents, 21 members of the party’s political bureau, as well as 56 Supreme Council members.
“I execute the decisions made in the meetings involving those mentioned.
“(However) some important decisions could not be implemented. For example, GE15 should have been called a lot sooner, preferably shortly after the Melaka and Johor state elections,” he said.
Ahmad added that Umno and BN wouldn’t have performed as badly had they rode on the momentum of their winning streak in the Melaka and Johor polls, “while spirits were high and #Bossku was still free”.
“Timing is very important in politics. Let the past be a reminder,” he said, adding that Umno won 21 out of 28 seats in Melaka, in the November 2021 state polls, and 40 out of 56 seats in Johor in March 2022.
Yesterday, Tajuddin claimed that Ahmad, who is now an Umno Supreme Council member, only listened to certain “people” he had around him, but failed to heed the voice of the grassroots.
Tajuddin said many of the grassroots members did not want the candidates that the leadership had selected for GE15.
He claimed that grassroots members protested over this, with many of them voting against Umno. “So who is on the losing end here?”
Umno only won 26 parliamentary seats in GE15, marking its lowest-ever representation in the Dewan Rakyat.
Tajuddin was suspended for six years last October, after being removed as an Umno Supreme Council member in June 2022.