Tengku Adnan is the new Umno sec-gen
Malaysiakini.com
Mar 19, 2008

Former Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor will replace Radzi Sheikh Ahmad as the Umno secretary general, said a local daily today. MCPX

Tengku Adnan, dropped by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from the cabinet yesterday, told New Straits Times that he was informed by Abdullah yesterday about his new role in the party.

tengku adnan mansor“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 the latter 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.”

Radzi: I cannot work

Radzi this morning announced that he was stepping down from his Umno and BN secretary general posts, effective today.

umno and radzi sheikh ahmadHe said that he would not be able to discharge his duties effectively as he was not in the cabinet announced by Abdullah yesterday. Radzi was the former home affairs minister.

“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 at the Putra World Trade Centre this morning.

Radzi said he 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.

He also dispelled the notion that he was resigning as he was disappointed after being dropped from the cabinet.

Both Radzi and Tengku Adnan were among eight former ministers who were dropped from the cabinet yesterday.

Tengku Adnan, 58, was first appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department in January 2001 and was promoted minister in the same department about two years later.

However, after the 2004 general election, he was dropped from the cabinet but was re-appointed Tourism Minister in a cabinet reshuffle in Febuary 2006.

He was recently embroiled in the Lingam tape controversy when his name was mentioned by lawyer VK Lingam as someone who could arrange for the promotion of senior judges. Tengku Adnan denied any wrongdoing.
    
There is still no news as to who would replace Radzi as the BN secretary general.

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