Pasir Salak’s ‘motormouth’ Tajuddin will be missing from UMNO’s general assembly

Pasir Salak’s ‘motormouth’ Tajuddin will be missing from UMNO’s general assembly





FORMER three-term Pasir Salak MP and Pasir Salak UMNO division chief Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman has been dealt the ‘death’ sentence by UMNO’s supreme council last night (Jan 5), hence don’t expect to catch a glimpse of him at the four-day 2022 UMNO General Assembly from Jan 11 (Wednesday) to 14 (Saturday).


The cheeky analogy by Malay new portal Suara Merdeka to describe Tajuddin’s diminishing influence in UMNO came about after he was suspended for six years in October last year although he downplayed the decision claiming that it was not a “death sentence”.

The decision was made after he was seen openly criticising UMNO’s top leadership following his removal as a supreme council member in June 2022. Among others, Tajuddin had urged UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to resign “for being a liability to the party”.


Recall that Tajuddin who notoriously rose to fame with his “Jangan probok saya” (Don’t provoke me) tagline at the height of a light rail transit (LRT) mishap in May 2021 prior to his removal as the Prasarana Malaysia Bhd non-executive chairman two days later for his action, has made an appeal against his suspension.

But apparently his application was rejected based on the decision by UMNO’s disciplinary board, according to Suara Merdeka. Earlier in July, Tajuddin was also dropped as Malaysia’s named ambassador to Indonesia.

Elsewhere, the party has also suspended its Arau division for disciplinary reasons (internal sabaotage) and instead, a chief administrator will be appointed for the division. Yesterday (Jan 6), UMNO information chief Isham Jalil had stated that UMNO Arau division committee members can only attend the party’s general assembly as observers.

Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (left) and wife Datin Seri Shamsiah Yassin


Recall that Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim who was the former Arau UMNO division chief and his wife Datin Seri Shamsiah Yassin who was the division’s women chief were sacked from the party for breaching its constitution.

The Arau UMNO division crisis began in the run-up of the 15th General Election (GE15) after Shahidan, the former Federal Territories Minister and Perlis Menteri Besar, was dropped as a Barisan Nasional candidate for his purportedly anti-Zahid stance.

Shahidan who subsequently contested under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) banner had successfully defended the Arau parliamentary seat for the fifth term in a row with over 20,000 majority votes. – Jan 6, 2023