Ismail Sabri refutes Umno suspension rumours

PUTRAJAYA: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied that he has been suspended from the party.

The former prime minister said that should Umno want to suspend him, it must be raised at the supreme council.

Dismissing the talk as "just rumours", Ismail Sabri said that he is still serving the party in his capacity as one of the three vice-presidents.

"I don't think I have been suspended. It was not raised at the supreme council meeting," he told The Star when contacted on Thursday (Feb 2).

Ismail Sabri was commenting on talk that he has been slapped with a suspension order.

The speculation came after the former prime minister questioned the supreme council's decision to sack and suspend several Umno members.

Ismail Sabri had said due process was not applied when the leaders were either sacked or suspended and did not agree with the decision "as it was against the legal process and principle of natural justice”.

On Jan 27, the Umno supreme council had sacked former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Umno chief Tan Sri Noh Omar.

Several leaders were also suspended including Sembrong Umno chief and MP Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and former information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan.