Sembrong Umno to meet branch members to explain Hishammuddin's suspension

KLUANG: The Sembrong Umno division will be meeting up with their branch members to give an explanation regarding their former division chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein's six-year suspension.

Its division deputy chief Abd Ghani Abd Rashid said that the meeting would be held soon before the party’s elections from Feb 1 to March 18.

"We have 66 branches in Sembrong with over 14,000 members, so we need to go down and meet with our members at the grassroots level to ‘rationalise’ this decision to them.

"We are afraid that the longer we delay this matter, the worse it would get (for the division)," he said during a press conference after chairing a special division meeting in Taman Sri Lambak here on Sunday (Jan 29) in the wake of Hishammuddin’s suspension.

Abd Ghani added that there had been "voices" from dissatisfied members who were unhappy with the Umno supreme council’s decision.

"So far, no one has decided to leave the party, but there have been voices that have been saying to do so, that is why we need to act fast.

"After the suspension, he (Hishammuddin) told us not to leave the party and to continue our service to the people.

"Is this the criteria of a 'traitor' who, even at his lowest point, is still able to ask us other fellow members to be loyal to the party?" he added.

Hishammuddin was suspended for six years, in a decision made by the Umno supreme council late Friday (Jan 27) night.