KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): The Umno Supreme Council has sacked two members from the party, namely Khairy Jamaluddin and its former Selangor chief Tan Sri Noh Omar.
Meanwhile, four members were suspended from the party for six years, namely Sembrong Member of Parliament (MP) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, former Johor state assemblyman Datuk Maulizan Bujang, former Jempol MP Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Sharif, and former Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan.
Also sacked were 42 other Umno members from Pasir Gudang (5), Putrajaya (9), Tanjung Karang (2) and Pahang (26), said Umno secretary general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan in a statement.
“Among their offences were becoming independent candidates, candidates for parties other than Barisan Nasional (BN), and being involved in assisting opponent parties during the 15th general election (GE15),” he said.
In GE15, Khairy contested in Sungai Buloh after he left the Rembau constituency to be contested by Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan. Khairy, however, lost to PKR’s Datuk R Ramanan by a majority of 2,963 votes.
Noh Omar was dropped as a candidate in GE15 for the Tanjung Karang seat, which he held for six terms from 1995, up until 2022.
The two individuals became increasingly vocal against embattled Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, after Umno and BN had its worst electoral showing in GE15 by winning just 26 seats, less than half of the 54 seats which the coalition secured in GE14.
After GE15, Khairy, Noh Omar and Shahril reportedly called for Zahid’s resignation.
It was also reported that Hishammuddin was among 10 BN MPs who signed statutory declarations supporting Perikatan Nasional (PN), which were later retracted as BN formed an alliance with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to form the unity government.
Tensions within the party rose during the 2022 Umno general assembly earlier this month, with the party passing a motion for no-contest for the party’s top two positions amid criticism by members such as Khairy and Maulizan.
Prior to Umno’s sacking, Khairy said no to offers from PN component party PAS to join the coalition, saying he is loyal to Umno.
The 47-year-old had his political career in the party, where he served as youth chief for 10 years from 2008 to 2018. He resigned from the position after BN’s first electoral loss in GE14, and contested for the president post that same year, but lost to Zahid.
In the statement on Friday (Jan 27), Ahmad Maslan also said that Umno vice president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin has been appointed as the party’s Johor communications chief.
Meanwhile, Umno veteran Tan Sri Shahrir Samad has been appointed as chairman of the party’s election committee.
Party elections are scheduled to be held from Feb 26 to March 18 this year.