PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan reminded party members that grooming new leaders takes time, experience and commitment, saying “politics is a marathon, not a 100m sprint,” in a thinly veiled swipe following Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s exit from Umno.
The Johor Umno deputy chairman said it was “difficult to rationally understand” Mohd Puad’s explanation for his exit from Umno, and suggested that dissatisfaction over internal candidate selection may have been a key factor.
"I was informed that his son is a 29-year-old. I also understand that he was appointed last year as a Batu Pahat Umno Youth division committee member.
"I agree that young people should be given opportunities, but not necessarily his son.
"Politics is a marathon spanning 42.2km, not a 100-metre sprint," he said in a statement Thursday (June 25).
Earlier, Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki claimed that Puad had quit Umno after the party refused to consider his son as its candidate for the Rengit seat.
Asyraf Wajdi said he was saddened by Puad's decision to quit Umno with immediate effect but described allegations that Umno was controlled by external parties, as "slanderous" and misleading.
This comes after Mohd Puad, who was the Johor state assembly speaker, announced his resignation from Umno, saying that he was leaving the party voluntarily.
In the statement, Mohd Puad claimed that Johor Umno no longer had the freedom to make its own decisions.
