SELANGAU (Sarawak): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today admitted that he was quite disappointed when some of his UMNO friends in the Cabinet were not selected to represent the party in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Ismail Sabri, who is UMNO vice-president, even though their names were dropped, some of them had stayed loyal to the party and were even prepared to ensure victory for Barisan Nasional (BN).

"We will never forget their deeds. Especially when they chose to stay loyal to the party even though they were not selected to contest.

"I personally feel quite disappointed when my friends, who are winnable candidates and have contributed so much to the party, could not contest," he told a press conference after officiating Selangau Section of the Sarawak Pan Borneo Highway Project here today.

The four Cabinet ministers dropped from UMNO's list of candidates for the GE15 were the Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamad Saddique.

Among them, Shahidan decided to contest the GE15 on the Perikatan Nasional-PAS ticket to defend his Arau seat.

When asked whether those who stayed loyal to UMNO would be appointed to hold important posts if BN wins the election, Ismail Sabri said: "Let's win it first and we'll decide later."

-- BERNAMA