KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Mara chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today said only Deputy Prime Minister and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi could decide whether he should step down from the position.

Asyraf, who is also Umno secretary-general, said he would comply if Zahid asked him to resign, but stressed that he would not do so due to pressure from PKR’s youth wing Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) or the party.

“I was appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister. I will simply follow his instructions.

“If the Rural and Regional Development Minister asks me to step down, I will step down — but not because of pressure from AMK or Parti Keadilan,” he told reporters during a special press conference ahead of the Umno General Assembly at Menara Dato Onn here.

Asyraf said his priority was to safeguard Mara, which he described as an institution entrusted with the interests of Malays and Bumiputeras and established under Umno’s leadership.

“First and foremost, I am safeguarding the party’s trust and mandate — the party’s mandate to protect Mara, which was born from the same womb of Umno itself.

“This is an institution for the Malays and Bumiputeras, and over the past three years, I have laid important foundations to ensure that the educational and Malay entrepreneurship agendas are preserved and strengthened,” he said.

Asyraf said Mara’s reputation and role as a Malay and Bumiputera institution must be protected from efforts to undermine it.

“What is most important is that this institution continues to be protected. There must not be efforts to tear down its reputation, nor should there be external elements deliberately seeking to see this Malay institution fall,” he said.

He said he would continue defending Mara if there were attempts to undermine the institution.

“This is not about Asyraf Wajdi. This is about Mara as an institution entrusted with the interests of the Malays, which was entrusted to Umno’s leadership when Mara was established in 1964 at the Umno General Assembly.

“So, I believe the only person who is rightfully in a position to decide whether I should step down or not is the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Rural and Regional Development Minister and oversees Mara as an agency under the ministry,” he said.

On calls for him to resign over the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Lembaga Tabung Haji, Asyraf said the matter was irrelevant as his name was not mentioned in the inquiry.

“The Tabung Haji RCI is not relevant because my name was not mentioned in the Tabung Haji RCI, nor have I ever been linked to issues involving Tabung Haji and so on.

“This is merely a matter of perception being played up by those who want to undermine the reputation and image of this institution,” he said.