Tajol drops in on Husni for breakfast surprise

Tan Sri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali (right) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah shaking hands at a breakfast gathering on Tuesday. -Saiful Bahri/The Star

IPOH: Former Mentri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali made a pleasant surprise at a breakfast gathering by Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and pledged his support for the Tambun MP who quit his Cabinet post two years ago.

He called for the people to look beyond what happened and stand together behind Barisan Nasional candidates to ensure their victory in GE14.

In his brief speech, Mohd Tajol Rosli touched on the incident of Ahmad Husni's resignation two years ago.

''It was between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Ahmad Husni, and they have been good friends since their days as Umno Youth excos long time ago together with Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi," he said here Tuesday (May 1), to rousing applause from those who participated in the gathering.

Ahmad Husni, who was the former Second Finance Minister, resigned from the Cabinet in the June reshuffle in 2016. He also quit his positions in Umno and Barisan Nasional later.

However, talk had been rife that he would be making a political comeback in the elections and he was confirmed to be defending his parliamentary seat for the sixth time.

Mohd Tajol Rosli, who was Perak ninth mentri besar from Dec 1999 to March 2008, noted that he decided to pledge his support for Ahmad Husni out of the love and loyalty for the party.

''I come not because of Ahmad Husni personally, but because he is contesting on Barisan ticket.

''The importance of Barisan and Umno is greater than personal ones in this.

''Just like in the case of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I would have left everything and go to Langkawi to support him if he was contesting under Barisan. But sadly it is not the case now.

''I value his contributions and what he did for me personally, but I could not support him as he is now with the other side,'' he added.

He also believed that Barisan has a good chance of winning in Tambun in the coming general election and advised members of Barisan component parties to be faithful to their respective parties.