PASIR Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman is the second Umno leader to put himself in the running for a vice-president post in party elections at the end of June.

The party Supreme Council member, who is notorious for sexist remarks uttered even in the Dewan Rakyat, said he has the support of the Pasir Salak Umno division, which he heads.

The division at a meeting last night agreed to nominate him for the post but Tajuddin will only make a formal announcement on Monday, he told Sinar Harian.

The other Umno leader who intends to contest the party’s vice-presidency is Johari Abdul Ghani, the former Titiwangsa MP and former second finance minister.

In another report by MStar, Tajuddin said he understood what the party and grassroots need after Umno’s loss in the 14th general election.

He cited his 42 years of experience as an Umno politician and had started his party work from the grassroots level.

“The Umno leadership should be elected from among those who have a good understanding of the challenges the party now faces.

“Leaders must not only redeem the party from its loss but guard the welfare of the Malays who still need to be defended,” he was quoted as saying.

Umno won 54 out of Barisan Nasional’s 79 seats in GE14. Tajuddin retained Pasir Salak by 7,712 votes.

Umno elections for the Supreme Council and top posts will be held on June 30, with nominations opening tomorrow and closing on June 17.

It is the first time in a long time that the president and deputy president posts will be open for contest, following the resignation of Najib Razak as president after losing GE14.

Malacca Umno has so far called for a no-contest for the top two post for Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Hishammuddin Hussein, who are both vice-presidents taking on the duties of the president and deputy president respectively.

But Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had quashed this, saying it would further erode public confidence in the party.

In an Utusan Online report, Tajuddin said the 54 seats won by Umno was actually higher than any other individual political party.

He said it showed that Umno still had strong support from the Malays. – May 31, 2018.