KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Under-fire Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam gave a backhanded compliment to his party’s Youth wing for demanding president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi resign in the party’s latest internal row.
Lokman had earlier drawn internal flak after accusing Zahid of interfering in a complaint against Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for allegedly betraying the Malay party by furtively meeting with political foes in PKR.
“I still remember when they took the approach to attack the president as soon as the Umno president was elected by the grassroots, I had to defend the president alone and became a victim of various mockery.
“But what makes me even happier is that the Umno president himself posted a video of a Kota Raja Youth member attacking me and was accepted positively today,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Yesterday, Kelantan Umno Youth chief Noor Hariri Mohamed Noor and his Johor Umno Youth counterpart Mohd Hairi Md Shah called for action to be taken against Lokman.
Last Thursday, Lokman lashed out at Zahid and Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa for what he claimed to an attempt to undermine the party’s disciplinary board in investigating Hishammuddin for the latter’s clandestine meeting along with several other Umno MPs with PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali last month.
The group meeting was said to be a prelude to another mass crossover from Umno to the ruling Pakatan Harapan, though both sides have denied this, insisting discussions centred on ways to improve the country’s economy for the future. Azmin is also economic affairs minister.
Lokman had defended Zahid last January when Umno Youth demanded their president resign over corruption charges.
