KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has reportedly urged Umno to lift his six-year suspension ahead of the state elections.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, the veteran politician said he wants to partake in a “silat” match against Umno’s enemies in Perikatan Nasional — referring to the Malay martial arts — but currently cannot do so akin to a man without his “keris”.
“Don’t treat me like a child, I have my dignity. I know the weaknesses of PAS, I know the weaknesses of Bersatu, I know all the weaknesses of PN (Perikatan Nasional).
“Give me the ‘keris’. If you don’t give me the ‘keris’, how can I help Umno go into battle?” he said, alluding to his suspension.
Tajuddin insisted that he would not leave Umno even if he is the last person remaining, saying he remains loyal to Umno and that he had contributed a lot to the party and vice versa.
“Why should I leave? It would be foolish for me to leave Umno,” he was reported as saying by Malaysiakini when asked if he was leaving the party.
The former Pasir Salak MP said he was offered to be a candidate by Perikatan Nasional to contest in Pasir Salak during the 15th general election but he had rejected it.
“If I had accepted to be a PN candidate, I would be the MP for Pasir Salak,” he reportedly said.
Tajuddin also said he had appealed against the suspension thrice but to no avail, but he was not disappointed by the suspension.
In June last year, Tajuddin was sacked from the Malay nationalist party’s supreme council. He was also dropped as Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia in July.
After he was dropped from the Umno supreme council, Tajuddin held a press conference accusing Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of leading the party’s MPs to support PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to be prime minister.
He was subsequently suspended from the party in October last year and was not chosen to defend his Pasir Salak seat in GE15.
