SUSPENDED and sacked Umno leaders should fight for the good of the country instead of playing safe by keeping a low profile, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.

Tuan Ibrahim said Perikatan Nasional (PN) regards them as still “influential” and political veterans. 

Falling short of encouraging them to be part of the PN coalition, the Kubang Kerian MP urged them to take a stand and not wait to be kicked out. 

“We need the strength to unite for the future of the country,” he told news portal Free Malaysia Today. 

Among Umno leaders booted out by the party were former Ketereh MP Annuar Musa, former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, former Perlis chief Shahidan Kassim and former Selangor chief Noh Omar. 

Shahidan decided to contest in the 15th general election on a PN ticket after Barisan Nasional dropped him as a candidate, and won.  

Former Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein, former information chief Shahril Hamdan and former Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman have been suspended for six years. All three have said they did not know why they were suspended.  

Referring to Annuar, Tuan Ibrahim said the latter looked “dissatisfied” as someone leading “only an NGO”, referring to Muafakat Nasional. 

“Such a senior politician must have a party. If he’s fighting without a party, he might feel disheartened and listless,” he said. 

Referring to Tajuddin, he said it looked like he was still hoping Umno would revoke his suspension.

Tajuddin recently told the news portal he apologised for criticising Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his appeal against the suspension. 

“If you are dissatisfied but you can’t voice it out, there is no strength in that,” Tuan Ibrahim said. – March 29, 2023.