Ahmad Maslan has defended himself against former Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s accusation that the former had failed in his previous role as the party’s secretary-general.

Tajuddin, who is serving a six-year suspension from Umno, yesterday accused Ahmad of failing to advise party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi properly, saying it was one of the reasons for Umno’s poor showing in the last general election (GE15).

In a Twitter post, Ahmad said the Umno president is advised by the party’s deputy president, three vice-presidents, 21 members of the party’s political bureau, as well as 56 Supreme Council members.

“I execute the decisions made in the meetings involving those mentioned.

“(However) some important decisions could not be implemented. For example, GE15 should have been called a lot sooner, preferably shortly after the Melaka and Johor state elections,” he said.

Yesterday, Tajuddin claimed that Ahmad, who is now an Umno Supreme Council member, only listened to certain “people” he had around him, but failed to heed the voice of the grassroots.

Tajuddin said many of the grassroots members did not want the candidates that the leadership had selected for GE15.