Zahid said he respected the decision conveyed to him by Selangor Umno during a meeting last night, adding that there was nothing to be disappointed about.

The deputy prime minister said one of the reasons for the rejection was that some Umno division leaders could not be appointed as local council members.

“It is not a question of being greedy. We have 22 division chiefs (in Selangor), so if there are some who do not get (appointed), then it is better that none of them are appointed,” he said.

“Even though we (Umno) are not in local councils (in Selangor), we still support the state government,” he said in Putrajaya today.

Last Saturday, Selangor Umno said that it decided to return its quota of 20 local council members to the state government.

In making the announcement, Selangor Umno chief Megat Zulkarnain Omardin said the quota of 20 positions allocated to Umno was just 7% of the 288 positions in Selangor’s 12 local councils.

Umno and PH joined forces in Selangor following the formation of the federal unity government, a cooperation that saw them win 34 out of 56 seats in the state assembly elections last year.

Umno, which won Dusun Tua and Sungai Tawar, was allocated one executive council seat, returning them to the state administration for the first time since their defeat in the 2008 general election.

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