Minister of Rural and Regional Development Muhammad Taib Muhammad of Malaysia
Born in Kampung Sungai Manggis, Kuala Kalumpang, Hulu Selangor, Muhammad is a graduate from Universiti Malaya and was also a former teacher in SMK Kuala Kubu Baru.
Muhammad was also former Batang Kali state assemblyman, winning in the general elections of 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1995.
Muhammad was acquitted less than two weeks ago by an Australian court of two charges of making false declaration pertaining to the amount he brought into the country Dec 16, 1996 and failure to declare 1.
Muhammad was detained at Brisbane International Airport as he was about to board a plane to New Zealand with the equivalent of A$1.
Earlier in Putrajaya, Muhammad said the party would be stronger if its membership included not just businessmen but also journalists, teachers, religious figures and leaders of non-governmental organisations.
If no effort was made to attract these people into Umno, the party would be seen as practising selective membership, Muhammad said in a statement.
Otherwise, why would he have kept attending opposition parties functions while at the same time claiming to be an Umno member? Muhammad said the party had no choice but to sack Zaid as his actions in the last two months had been tantamount to challenging the party to act against him.
The comments show that they do not respect the law," Muhammad said according to New Straits Times and cited by AFP.
Last year, Muhammad had lodged a police report in Kuala Lumpur stating that Malaysia Today carried a series of remarks that insulted the King, degraded Islam and incited hatred and violence in the country on July 11.
In Putrajaya, Muhammad said professionals from rural areas should go back to serve the community.
Muhammad was commenting on Loh's allegation against Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad's personal assistant, who was from the same party.
Muhammad was speaking at a press conference Saturday after opening a day-long seminar entitled "Islam Hadhari atau Hadhariah Islamiah?" here.
On the Umno party election, Muhammad said the Supreme Council had not made any decision on whether the posts for president and deputy president should be contested.
On the sodomy allegation against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Muhammad said the real victim was the accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Muhammad said the rift was not only between leaders of the three allies but also between Indian and Malay PKR leaders.
Muhammad said it was different with the Barisan Nasional, where its leaders make time to meet the people and help solve their problems.
Throughout the process, Muhammad was suspended from his post of vice president of the United Malays National Organization, the leading party in the ruling coalition.
took into Australia in December 1996 and failing to declare more than A$1.
Mr Muhammad denies any wrongdoing.
Muhammad said history had shown that Umno had been divided before because of contests for the top posts as some members left the party to form a new one.
On December 22 last year, Mr Muhammad was detained at Brisbane International Airport as he was about to board a plane to New Zealand with the equivalent of A$1.
The Courier-Mail has revealed Mr Muhammad and his wife spent a week in Australia - checking on a luxury house being built on the Gold Coast and a 4,500ha property in western Queensland - then flew to New Zealand for two weeks after Mr Muhammad had appeared in court.
Muhammad said UMNO had been hampered by internal disagreement over the choice of its candidate in the by-election, Arif Shah Omah Shah, and was distracted by upcoming internal leadership polls.
In another development, Muhammad said the ministry was targeting to produce 40,000 young rural entrepreneurs by 2015 and that various programmes, including the Rural Entrepreneurs Carnival, were carried out to achieve it.
On the Petaling Jaya Selatan Umno Division, Muhammad said it remained unaffected by the resignation of its head Captain (Rtd) Datuk Zahar Hashim who joined Pas last month.
Muhammad said he hoped that the division’s deputy head Datuk Raja Hanipuddin Datuk Raja Nong Chik, who is acting head, would be able to increase the membership of the division in time for the next general election.