He replaces Mohamed Apandi Ali, who quit the post in December.

The announcement was made after a four-hour closed door meeting of the Umno Supreme Council at the party headquarters here this evening,

Zulhasnan, 65, was also the Malaysian ambassador to the United States before the 2018 general election.

The two-term Setiawangsa MP lost to PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad in the constituency in GE14.

Apandi had resigned as the Umno disciplinary board chairman after alleging interference over a hearing against former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein.

He had complained about the sudden postponement of the disciplinary proceedings following Lokman’s report against Hishammuddin for being among the Umno MPs at a meeting with PKR deputy president Azmin Ali last November.

Today’s Supreme Council meeting also decided that the next Umno general assembly will held from Oct 26 to Oct 31.