Former Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi has rebutted party secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki’s claim that he quit the party because his son was not selected as a candidate in the Johor state election.

Instead, Puad said his departure was driven by dissatisfaction with Umno Johor’s candidate selection process, which he alleged was influenced by “certain parties” and tainted by cronyism.