KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Noh Omar, who was controversially sacked from Umno on Friday, has warned that the brown-nosing culture prevalent in the party today could lead to its ultimate downfall.
This is following the comments by a number of party leaders defending the disciplinary action taken by party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi against several members which Noh described as unconstitutional and ignoring due process.
“I worry if there are Umno leaders and members who continue to bootlick and justify the unjustifiable (menegakkan benang yang basah)...in the end, Umno will be doomed.
“Everything, (it’s) ‘yes sir, yes sir, yes, yes, yes’. Look what has happened now,” he said during a live interview with Sinar Harian today.
Noh said while he is no longer with Umno, he is concerned for the future of the party that he has served for decades, particularly with the recent arbitrary actions taken against a number of members.
“If we run astray from our original struggle, ignore the constitution, and have bootlickers approving every move, it will not only confuse the rakyat…I’m afraid even the youth will be more disgusted and fed up with Umno.”
His comments today come on the back of his sacking from Umno on Friday. Zahid had initially announced, during a Supreme Council meeting, that Noh would be suspended for six years, before the latter challenged to be expelled instead.
Apart from him, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was another high profile member to be sacked, while former vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was among those given a six-year suspension.
Noh, when speaking to the press immediately after his dismissal, had lambasted the party for taking disciplinary action against him despite him being issued a notice by the disciplinary board for a meeting that was originally scheduled to take place today.
Following the internal purge, several Umno leaders had defended the move, with party information chief Isham Jalil saying the action taken are in line with party rules, while Supreme Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi described it as necessary.
In Noh’s case, he was, among other things, accused of sabotaging the party during the recent general election, including by placing his former special officer Mohd Rosni Mastol to contest in Tg Karang after he (Noh) was dropped.
Commenting on it today, Noh swore that he had no knowledge of Rosni’s decision to vie for the seat as an independent candidate.
He also expressed bemusement over accusations levelled against him for purportedly sabotaging the party, noting that Umno’s poor performance in the federal polls was not exclusive to the Tg Karang constituency.
Instead, he pointed out that Umno had been obliterated in seven states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Selangor and Melaka – losing every single parliamentary seat it contested in.
“Why (is it that) when Tg Karang was defeated, I was accused of sabotaging? What’s the logic? Even in Bagan Datuk, where the president contested, he only won by over 300 votes. Was there sabotage too?”
Umno better off with Muafakat Nasional in Selangor
Separately, Noh, who was Selangor Umno liaison chief until November 20 last year, believes the party could have performed much better in the state had the top leaders listened to his suggestion to cooperate with Muafakat Nasional (MN), the coalition which previously consisted of PAS.
He cited the Semenyih state constituency as an example of how MN could have worked, pointing out that the cooperation ensured a victory in the 2019 by-election, despite both Umno and PAS losing miserably there in 2018.
“I have said in the past that if there is a three-cornered fight in Selangor, it will be hard for Umno to win, because there are many mixed seats.
“Many made fun of me, but MN proved to have worked in Selangor. That was why my heart at that time was with MN.
“Perhaps that’s why my presence was not very welcomed (in Umno lately), because it’s as though I was acting smart. But my prediction (about Umno losing) turned out to be true.
“Initially, I predicted Umno to win seven parliamentary seats, but when we clashed with Perikatan Nasional, I knew we were doomed.”
Noh said based on the results of the general election, Umno is only expected to win two seats in the coming state polls in Selangor.
On whether the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional partnership at the federal level will have any bearing, in terms of support, in Selangor, Noh said: “With the cooperation with PH, BN certainly has a chance to be in the state government.”
“The question is: how many seats can Umno win? If it’s two or three, then we will be like broken rice grains by the bushel (irrelevant).” – The Vibes, January 30, 2023
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