KUALA LUMPUR – Senior Umno members who were either sacked or suspended recently did nothing back in 2008 when former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was sacked by the party under similar circumstances.
In a brief tweet, Zaid described the recent events in the party as similar to his sacking 15 years ago given there was no show cause letter, no warning and no basis.
“When I was sacked from Umno years ago for being too liberal, there was no show cause, no warning and no basis.
“Yet the guys who are now complaining did nothing then.
“You are never far from injustice if you decide to pick and choose when it is applicable,” he tweeted in an apparent dig against those purged by Umno on Friday night.
The former Kota Baru MP had been in various parties following his sacking from Umno before rejoining the party, last year.
Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was given the boot from the party as part of an internal purge, ending weeks of speculation about his fate.
Another high-profile member Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who once served as the party vice-president, was given a six-year suspension.
Six-year suspensions were also handed out to several other bigwigs, including former Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, former Jempol MP Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif, and Tebrau division chief Datuk Maulizan Bujang.
A total of 42 Umno members have been similarly expelled with immediate effect, of which five are from the Pasir Gudang division, nine from Putrajaya, two from Tg Karang, and 26 from Pahang.
Previously, Khairy, who lost the Sg Buloh parliamentary seat in the federal polls, had called for Zahid’s resignation after Umno suffered its worst electoral performance since its formation, while accusing the party of losing its way and needing “internal cleansing”.
He was also among those who opposed the decision to leave the top two posts uncontested, and had alleged that “ghost delegates” were brought into the party’s recent general assembly to bulldoze the no-contest motion.
Hishammuddin, meanwhile, is said to have led a separate faction against party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi within Umno, and was one of the 10 Barisan Nasional MPs who previously declared support for Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, following the conclusion of the 15th general election. – The Vibes, January 29, 2023
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