PERLIS Barisan Nasional strongman and Arau MP Shahidan Kassim tonight hinted that he had been dropped from the Umno ticket, following a brief message he left on Facebook.

“Tonight is the saddest night ever. All operations rooms in BN Arau have been shut and the flags lowered,” he posted on his personal Facebook page. 

“This is the first time in history,” he added in the two-paragraph post.

The Malaysian Insight is trying to reach Shahidan for a comment.

Shahidan did not explicitly say he was dropped but throughout the day rumours swirled that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was in the process of culling all those opposed to his leadership in a move to strengthen his position as BN headed for the polls.

Among those rumoured to be on Zahid’s chopping block are Selangor Umno chief and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak), Adham Baba (Tenggara), and Halimah Mohamed Sadique (Kota Tinggi).

Umno and BN are expected to unveil their list of candidates on Thursday, days before nomination day on Saturday.

Shahidan, 71, first entered the Dewan Rakyat in 1986 and was Perlis menteri besar from 1995 to 2008.

He has been Federal Territories minister in the Ismail Sabri Yaakob government since August 2021 and was seen as one of the prime minister’s strongest supporters. 

Aside from the federal elections, three states – Perlis, Perak and Pahang – will also hold state polls.

Four other states – Sabah, Sarawak, Malacca and Johor – held elections recently, while the remaining six will hold polls before the current mandate ends in July 2023. – October 31, 2022.