KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — Umno leaders openly critical of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should realise that their selection to contest in the general election would depend on the party president, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said.

The Umno elections director told Malay daily Utusan Malaysia that Ahmad Zahid would still be president by the 15th general election as the party’s internal poll has been deferred.

“If you still want to be a candidate, you want to get the constituency determined by the president, be careful. Don't keep mocking, threatening the president.

“Eventually you will have to meet him, too. Ahmad Zahid is the BN (Barisan Nasional) chairman, if he is still sitting there, how do you think he feels after being done like this?

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”Now it is up to the president whether he wants to remain president until 2023, for what reason? He has been empowered by the supreme council through a motion to postpone party elections until 2023.

“If I'm the president, (keep) bashing me, you are done,” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.

Tajuddin previously said that Umno has officially decided to postpone its internal election until 2023 and Ahmad Zahid will remain the party president until that time.

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According to Malay daily Sinar Harian, Tajuddin said all except two Umno supreme council members agreed to postpone the party election through a “circular resolution”.

During the previous Umno Annual General Assembly (AGM), the party’s information chief Shahril Hamdan reminded party leaders to stop going against each other and urged them to focus on the party’s agenda.

He added that the party's internal conflicts have created contradicting statements that have led to grassroots being in the dark.

Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan cautioned about enemies within the party, and said such people should be dropped from the party indefinitely.

In his keynote address during the AGM, the politician known as Tok Mat reserved some harsh words for them, whom he accused of only using Umno for their personal agenda, but stopped short of naming them on stage.