Jazlan said Annuar would have caused many more problems for Umno if he had remained with the party.

He also believes that the former rural development minister should have been sacked long before his expulsion in December 2022.

“I congratulate PAS for taking in Umno’s problem,” he said at an event with Jeram Tekoh residents, which was also attended by Zahid.

The former Machang MP then chided Annuar for making use of the Nenggiri by-election campaign to attack Zahid publicly, when it had nothing to do with the needs of local residents.

Jazlan told Annuar not to involve the people of Nenggiri in his personal problems, adding that the ex-Ketereh MP was not sacked from Umno without good reason.

“No one would dare sack the Umno secretary-general if there’s no reason to do so.

“But today, we are here to talk about Nenggiri’s problems. We have brought the deputy prime minister (Zahid) here to resolve your issues, not to talk about personal matters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jazlan, who is Felcra chairman, said the people of Nenggiri needed to back Barisan Nasional (BN) at the polls to resolve certain issues that fall under the purview of the federal government, not the state.

BN is part of the unity government while PAS leads the state government in Kelantan.