Former Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Junid today said that he would not be stepping down as International Islamic University (UIA) president despite having resigned from Umno.

sanusi junid 050608 Reading from a prepared text at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Sanusi said it would be “strange” if he was asked to quit just because he was “temporarily” no longer an Umno member.

“I will not quit from my post as UIA president because my duties are a responsibility... I believe that the king would not sack me without reason unless he is advised to do by the ‘Host Member’ of UIA - the prime minister,” he said.

Sanusi had quit Umno along with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad on May 19 as a protest against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The duo had vowed to only return to the party after Abdullah had stepped down.

Will fight back if sacked

Following this, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that Sanusi would be retained until his contract expires unless the latter uses his university position for political purposes.

“If he did something for a political purpose, then I would think (of taking action),” Khaled told Mingguan Malaysian on May 31.

To a question, Sanusi admitted that he had been actively campaigning for Abdullah to step down but had never done so in his capacity as UIA president.

“It seems that we can never criticise the government. If we do, we’d lose our jobs,” said Sanusi, who had helmed the post since 2000.

Sanusi said that he was clarifying the matter following Khaled’s statement and vowed that should he be sacked, he would “fight” to keep his post, which pays him RM5,000 monthly.

“If I’m sacked, I’d fight back. If one were to slap we, I won’t ask him to slap me again,” he added.