Azalina will not tender resignation as minister

(The Star) – Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said she will not tender her resignation as minister after her poor showing in the just concluded Umno election.

Azalina who failed in her bid for an Umno supreme council post added that her position in the Cabinet would be decided by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is expected to take over as prime minister early April.

She obtained 1,200 votes, giving her the 26th spot, just one spot outside the 25 supreme council places. She lost to Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, who was in the 25th place, by just 65 votes.

It is believed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigations on her and her ministry staff for corruption had worked against her.

This is despite her pleas with the delegates not to judge her until the MACC had completed its investigations.

Another minister who lost in the race for the supreme council Datuk Shahrir Samad, however, in an immediate reaction to his defeat, said he was quitting as Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.