Mohamed Khaled Nordin has urged Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to explain his appointment as the new Perlis chief to the grassroots to clear the air.

This follows raised eyebrows over Khaled's move from Johor – which he headed going into the disastrous 14th general election – to the northernmost state.

“I am aware my appointment has elicited many questions from the Perlis Umno leadership. I leave it to the president to explain the rationale for my appointment to the state Umno leadership.

“I hope the president will shed light on the matter immediately, and not delay it for the sake of Umno's efforts to renew itself,” he said in a statement today.

Khaled also thanked the party leadership for having confidence in him to lead Perlis.

He also called on his Johor colleagues to give their full cooperation to his successor there, Hasni Mohamad.

Johor, the traditional Umno home base, fell to Pakatan Harapan in the May 9 general election.

Zahid had unveiled the party's new supreme council and state leadership yesterday.

Apart from Khaled's move up north, other surprises included the naming of controversial former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali as one of the 11 appointed supreme council members.

Apandi notoriously cleared former premier Najib Razak of any wrongdoing over the 1MDB scandal.

After a barrage of criticisms, the former AG finally backed out of the appointment, a U-turn which former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin described as an “embarrasment” to the party.