Umno supreme council member Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin today said he was embarrassed that the Malays had rejected a prominent leader such as former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Commenting on the recent Kubang Pasu Umno division delegates contest, he said it was disappointing that Mahathir was not elected to represent the division at the party annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

"I am embarrassed to face other races as the Malays did not have any respect nor give Tun (Mahathir) the space to be a delegate.

"He was willing to contest just to sit with other delegates at the annual general assembly, but his hope was shut out," the regional and rural development minister, who is known to be a Mahathir loyalist, was quoted as saying by Bernama .

In Saturday's contest, Mahathir who helmed Umno and the nation for 22 years came out ninth among 15 candidates. He received 227 votes from the 493 delegates.

His son Mukhriz, who also contested, came out fifth. The division will send the top seven elected candidates to the annual meet in November. Another six will represent the division by virtue of their posts.

Mahathir, who is currently embroiled in a squabble with his successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, blamed his defeat on money politics and a preferred candidates list issued by the division.

In the run-up to the contest, there were numerous allegations that the current Umno leadership was resorting to using underhand tactics and deploying government machineries to prevent him from winning.

However, these allegations have been denied.

Stop the insults

Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz also urged Umno leaders and members to refrain from making derogatory remarks that can hurt Mahathir's feelings.

He warned that the actions of certain party members in making such statements will only aggravate the situation.

"Recently, many people have been speaking about Dr Mahathir's shortcomings without realising the amount of contribution he has made to Umno and the nation as prime minister for 22 years," he said.

"I was once his political secretary and as far as I know, Tun (Mahathir) had never been combative towards Pak Lah (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi).

"His (Mahathir's) reprimands are not aimed at belittling Umno or the country," he added.

At present, Mahathir's most vocal critic in Umno is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz. He once challenged the 81-year-old former premier 'to be a man and resign from Umno'.