In a Facebook post, Zahid said Khairuddin will be assisting Dusuki Ahmad in the council.

He added that the former plantation industries and commodities minister had previously served as the secretary of the Islamic party’s Syura Council.

Khairuddin was a two-term Kuala Nerus MP before the dissolution of Parliament last October.

Last year, he was sacked as secretary of the PAS Syura Council on Feb 11. A month earlier he was expelled from the party’s central committee.

On March 14 last year, Khairuddin announced that he was resigning from PAS and will be an independent MP. He was also reported to have said that he would not be joining Umno nor setting up a new party.

However, in the recent 15th general election (GE15), Khairuddin tried to defend his seat on a Barisan Nasional ticket but lost to Alias Razak, the candidate from PAS.

Zahid said Dusuki is an Umno veteran and has vast experience and connections among ulama and Islamic scholars in and outside the country.

The formation of the council was first mooted at the party’s general assembly 12 years ago. At the Umno general assembly last weekend, Zahid announced that the council will be established with Dusuki set to be its first chairman.

Dusuki is the father of Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi.

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