Can Hisham and KJ be team players, Puad wonders

Can Hisham and KJ be team players, Puad wonders

PETALING JAYA: Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi has questioned if Khairy Jamaluddin and Hishammuddin Hussein would be loyal to the party if they were to be reinstated as Umno members.

With Khairy sacked and Hishammuddin suspended for six years, Puad said the major issue if the pair were to make a full return to Umno was whether they can be team players, comply with the party consensus and not sign statutory declarations in support of others.

Puad’s remark about statutory declarations was a reference to his claim two years ago that Hishammuddin was the main person who got several Barisan Nasional MPs to sign declarations in support of Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin becoming prime minister after the 2022 general election.

Puad said Khairy and Hishammuddin should just file an appeal against their respective sacking and suspension instead of waiting for an invitation or for Umno to lay out the red carpet.

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“There’s no need to use Zahid as an excuse,” he said. Puad pointed out that the main reason for the disciplinary actions against them was for disobeying the party’s decision.

In January 2023, the Umno Supreme Council sacked Khairy and Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar and suspended key leaders such as Hishammuddin and former information chief Shahril Hamdan for breaching party discipline during the general election.

Last week, after Umno lifted the suspension of former Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, Zahid said Umno was open to welcoming back sacked or suspended members if they proved their determination to return to the party.

Khairy later said he was willing to return to the party if it commits to becoming a “better Umno”, adding that he would not be a mere yes man if he were to return. He said he was open to discussing a return to Umno if the party can “accept me as someone who is still loyal to the party but has his own ideals”.