Suspensions within Umno

PETALING JAYA: Umno has suspended Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (pic) as well as Alor Setar division chief Datuk Mohd Yusof Ismail for six years.

The party’s supreme council also agreed to sack blogger and former Bandar Tun Razak Umno division secretary Datuk Zaharin Mohd Yasin.

Mohd Yusof said he does not know why he was suspended nor for how long, as he has not received any official letter and was only informed verbally on Friday night after the supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

However, checks with supreme council members confirmed that the meeting had decided to suspend Tajuddin and Mohd Yusof for six years.

Supreme council members who attended the meeting, but who declined to be named, said that Tajuddin and Yusof were suspected of going against the top Umno leadership.

Some of the members had informed the duo of their suspension after the meeting.

“Yes, I have been informed by members of the Umno supreme council that they decided to suspend me and Tajuddin. I do not know for how long yet,” said Yusof when contacted.

“I have no idea why they decided this. I have been very vocal in the division chiefs’ group and I have been very supportive of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“Perhaps it was a signal for the Prime Minister that he should not dissolve Parliament – his supporters among the division chiefs will bear the brunt.

“I will not appeal as I have done nothing wrong. I consider myself as Umno then, now and forever,” he added.

Tajuddin, who is also the Pasir Salak Umno division chief, when contacted confirmed the news with just a terse “yes”.

The vocal politician has been Pasir Salak MP for three terms since 2008. In June he was removed from the Umno supreme council for calling on party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to step down because he was “a liability to the party”.

(Ahmad Zahid was recently acquitted of a slew of corruption charges, although he faces a raft of similar charges in a different case.)

In July, Tajuddin’s name was removed as potential ambassador to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Zaharin clapped back in a Facebook post, writing that in Umno, the Prime Minister can be attacked and cursed and that it would not be considered a sacking offence.

“I will not appeal my dismissal and I thank the Umno supreme council for removing me as a party member. This has given me the newfound freedom to write and give my opinions,” he added.

The supreme council top five, including Ismail Sabri who is an Umno vice-president, met on Friday night and decided that the general election will indeed be held this year.

Ahmad Zahid has been pushing Ismail Sabri to dissolve Parliament this year, but the latter had been holding off on making a decision.

The action against the three, who have in recent months been very vocal against Ahmad Zahid’s leadership, was perceived by other division chiefs as a signal that no insubordination will be tolerated by the party president.

When contacted, six of the 10 division chiefs said they were saddened by the decision to suspend Tajuddin and Yusof merely for speaking up.

“What is wrong with us speaking up? All of us love Umno dearly and people like Tajuddin had stood by Umno during the worst of times.

“In fact, he won the Pasir Salak parliamentary seat even when Umno lost the government in the last general election. That says something of the following he has in Umno.

“Treating him this way after all his service to the party is not right,” said one division chief from Perak.