UMNO secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has rejected calls for him to step down as MARA chairman, saying only Deputy Prime Minister and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has the authority to decide his future in the position.
Asyraf Wajdi said Ahmad Zahid, as the minister responsible for the Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKDW), was the person who appointed him and therefore had the authority to remove him.
“If, for example, the KKDW minister asks me to step down, I will step down. But not because of pressure from AMK or PKR,” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference held in conjunction with the 2026 UMNO General Assembly here today.
Asyraf Wajdi also dismissed attempts to link his position as MARA chairman to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Tabung Haji (TH), saying his name was not mentioned in the inquiry.
“Likewise, the issue of the Tabung Haji RCI is irrelevant because my name was not mentioned in the Tabung Haji RCI. I have also never been linked to the Tabung Haji issue and so on,” he said.
He described the calls for his resignation as an attempt by certain quarters to create perceptions aimed at damaging MARA’s reputation and image.
Asyraf Wajdi said the most important thing was for him to fulfil the party’s responsibility in protecting MARA, an institution established by UMNO to serve the interests of Malays and Bumiputera.
He said that during his nearly three years leading MARA, he had focused on strengthening its education and entrepreneurship agenda while improving the institution’s governance.
He stressed that MARA’s role as an institution dedicated to advancing the interests of Malays and Bumiputera must be protected from efforts that could undermine its reputation and image.
“This is not about Dr Asyraf Wajdi, this is about the MARA institution. It is an institution entrusted with serving the Malays, established under the leadership of UMNO, which gave birth to MARA in 1966 at the UMNO General Assembly.
“If there are agendas merely aimed at bringing down this institution, I believe that, as a representative of UMNO, I will continue to defend it,” he said.
