Puad said while there are some who want to get ahead of the party by naming Umno’s GE15 “poster boy”, the public should pay no heed to such claims.
“They are making such announcements, but nothing has been decided yet,” he said in a Facebook post.
“A ‘poster boy’ must guarantee the party’s victory in the general election. They are chosen based on their stature, policies and ability to defend the rakyat.
“They can’t be soft, be a follower, and slow in making decisions,” he said, alluding to the naming of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the “poster boy” by some Umno leaders.
“So people shouldn’t take too much notice. Just follow the party’s decision.”
His comments are seen as a response to a Facebook post earlier today by Ketereh MP Annuar Musa who said that the Umno Supreme Council had endorsed Ismail to continue as the country’s leader until the end of the 14th parliamentary term next year.
“Not only that, the Umno Supreme Council has also shown that Ismail is Umno’s ‘poster boy’ for the next general election…,” the communications and multimedia minister said.
Last month, Padang Terap MP Mahdzir Khalid said Umno’s Padang Terap division approved a motion to make Ismail the “poster boy” for the party and Barisan Nasional (BN) for the next general election (GE15).
“The decision for Ismail to be the ‘poster boy’ was unanimously approved, with the main factor being that he is the current prime minister,” said Mahdzir, who is one of Umno’s three vice-presidents alongside Ismail and Khaled Nordin.
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