KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was dropped as a supreme council member following the latter’s appointment as Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia.

Speaking to reporters, Ahmad said that the Pasir Salak MP can now focus on his responsibility as ambassador.

“For me, what has been decided by the party is to give way for Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman to focus on his task to be the country’s ambassador to Indonesia.

“Datuk Seri Tajuddin was given the opportunity to fully focus on his responsibility as ambassador because the work as the supreme council member going towards the general election also demands full focus.

“So, Datuk Seri Tajuddin can’t fully focus on ambassador (duty) while being a supreme council member at the same time because that is going to be hard for him, so we decided to be fair to him, because serving the country is always a priority,” he said during the launch of Barisan Nasional (BN) Youth Job Fair 2022 today.

Ahmad Maslan also said that Umno’s supreme council members will gather for a meeting tonight at 8pm at the World Trade Centre here.

“We have many topics to cover tonight including the current situation of inflation and costs of living in the country,” he added.

Earlier today, it was reported that Tajuddin was dropped as the party’s supreme council member without any explanation in a letter dated June 21 that was leaked online.

In the letter, Ahmad Maslan expressed the party’s gratitude towards the seasoned Pasir Salak lawmaker.

Tajuddin was named the ambassador to Indonesia by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, but has yet to receive his credentials from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

The decision to make the controversial MP the nation’s ambassador to Indonesia was greeted with criticism by members of Umno, MPs, former diplomats and the general public.

However, Ismail Sabri defended the decision by saying that Tajuddin is “a seasoned and experienced politician”.

The outspoken MP has made headlines for the wrong reasons several times in his political career, and was removed in May last year as the non-executive chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Bhd after he joked during a press conference on a light rail transit (LRT) crash.