Ismail didn’t tell me he was quitting Umno, says Shahidan

The Perlis Umno chairman says he knows only what he reads in the media.

Perlis Umno chairman Shahidan Kassim says he has not received a resignation letter from his brother.

GEORGE TOWN: Perlis Umno chairman Shahidan Kassim today said he was in the dark over his brother Ismail Kassim’s decision to leave Umno after 40 years with the party.

Shahidan said he had only found out about the matter when someone told him about it this morning.

“I do not know. Nobody told me anything. He did not contact me or convey anything to me.

“I did not receive any resignation letter from him,” he told FMT.

The Arau MP was asked to comment on Ismail’s announcement that he was leaving Umno for PPBM.

Shahidan, who is also Arau Umno division chief, said he was currently undergoing treatment in hospital and was dependent on others and the media for news.

“Whatever I hear is from what people are communicating to me. Whatever I know is what I have read from the media.

“Someone told me this morning about the news and I said okay. I will only comment on this after meeting with my division’s committee members,” he said.

Ismail, who is the Tambun Tulang assemblyman, quit Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) last night, citing a loss of confidence in its leaders.

“I officially quit Umno and BN to become an independent candidate,” Ismail was quoted as saying in a report by the New Straits Times.

He said he had considered leaving Umno since 2008, and had made his decision without his brother’s knowledge.

Ismail is expected to announce his plans to join PPBM soon.

The Arau Umno division deputy chief had been one of the candidates for Perlis menteri besar, but Perlis Raja Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail said he did not choose him as he did not want a menteri besar who would “become a puppet and be controlled by external forces”. -FMT