KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: The fallout in Perlis UMNO continues to take it toll with Radzi Sheikh Ahmad resigning Wednesday (19 Mar) as secretary general of both UMNO and the Barisan Nasional coalition after he was dropped from the new Cabinet Tuesday (18 Mar). He was previously Home Affairs Minister. Tengku Adnan Mansor, the Putrajaya MP, who was also dropped from the Cabinet, takes over Radzi’s job immediately.

Radzi was seen to be backing the factional party infighting in Perlis following the state elections where he threw his weight behind Mat Isa Sabu to unseat powerful incumbent Shahidan Kassim. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi preferred to stick to Shahidan but the Raja of Perlis appointed Mat Isa to the fury of Shahidan. The deposed Perlis MB blamed Radzi for the lost of his job.

In announcing his resignation from both the party posts, he would only say his exclusion from the new Cabinet line-up would render him incapable of discharging his party duties.

“I feel I cannot function effectively. Firstly, I'm no longer in the Cabinet, rendering me unable to carry out my duties effectively... I cannot work," he told a news conference at Umno headquarters in Menara Dato Onn at the Putra World Trade Centre.

He said he has conveyed his decision to Abdullah, who is also Umno president and BN chairman, this morning via telephone, followed by an official letter. He said Abdullah had accepted his resignation.

"I hope Umno will continue to scale new heights under Abdullah's leadership. I will extend my assistance in whatever way possible," said the Kangar member of parliament. Radzi, a lawyer, was re-elected to the Kangar parliamentary constituency, defeating Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Ismail of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), by a 13,671-vote majority.

On his action, he said, “In politics, there will always be people to take over. Nobody remains
forever," he said.

Radzi, who joined Umno in 1973, said he would continue with his duties as Kangar MP, besides guiding young assemblymen in the constituency. He urged party members to accept his decision with an open mind and not make speculations that can harm Umno.

" Please, do not think there's a split in Umno," he said, reiterating his stand that the 8 Mar polls was his last term as an elected representative.

Former Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor will replace Radzi Sheikh Ahmad as the Umno secretary general, according to the New Straits Times. According to the paper, Tengku Adnan, dropped by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from the cabinet Tuesday said he was informed by Abdullah Tuesday about his new role in the party.

“I am grateful for the appointment. I was informed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday morning before he announced the new cabinet,” the daily quoted Tengku Adnan as saying.

The Putrajaya member of Parliament also said that he met Radzi this morning before Radzi announced his resignation.

“We briefly discussed the secretary-general’s work and agreed that preparations for the next general election have to begin, even now.

“Umno is still relevant, we did not lose in the recent election, we are only eight seats short of a two-thirds majority. We will find out the needs of the people and what they want, so I have called for an internal post-mortem of the party, in addition to the independent post-mortem,” said Tengku Adnan.

The daily also reported that Tengku Adnan went to the Umno headquarters to organise a few things, including giving instructions for the internal post-mortem.

“So far we know that of the over 10 million registered voters, BN got 4.9 million votes. So we are still getting the majority of votes.”