KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Umno supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam should be sacked for verbally attacking former vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Johor Umno Youth chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah said.
Mohd Hairi reportedly labelled Lokman a “termite” who is damaging Umno’s foundations through public attacks on Umno leaders, and urged the party to carry out stern action.
“Johor Umno Youth wing wants Lokman to be expelled as supreme council member and party member,” he was quoted as saying by The Star on its website, adding that such stern action was important as the party was rebuilding itself and should not be damaged from within.
According to The Star, Mohd Hairi noted that Lokman had in the past also attacked other Umno top leaders including the party president, deputy president, vice-president, secretary-general and youth chief.
The Johor Umno Youth chief leader also reportedly said Lokman as an Umno supreme council member should show maturity by expressing differing views through the party’s channels instead of aiding political rivals with his remarks, further questioning Lokman’s use of social media to air his criticisms against the party.
Johor Umno chief Datuk Hasni Mohammad was reported as saying that he disagreed with Lokman’s approach which he said would cause more confusion among party members.
“Stop behaving like an Opposition member within our ranks as we should be fighting Pakatan instead picking fights among ourselves,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Hishammuddin, who is also Sembrong MP in Johor, was previously reported to have been part of a covert November meeting between a group of Umno MPs and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
Lokman had lodged a complaint with the Umno disciplinary board following the reports on Hishammuddin, urging stern disciplinary action on the latter for allegedly trying to sway Umno leaders to declare support for Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Azmin, who is the economic affairs minister.
Azmin had denied such topics were discussed during the meeting, saying it was a regular get-together to discuss projects within the respective MP’s constituencies.
On December 13, the Umno disciplinary board served a show-cause letter on Hishammuddin for allegedly breaching the party constitution and its code of ethics following complaints lodged against the former federal minister, with the letter also ordering him to be present at a December 26 hearing by the Umno disciplinary board.
The letter said an investigation panel by Umno had found grounds to support allegations of him having breached party rules related to disobeying party instructions, failure to adhere to party policies and to protect the party’s reputation and dignity.
But the December 26 disciplinary hearing was abruptly “postponed”, with Umno disciplinary board chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali later declaring that he would be resigning over alleged interference over the hearing.
Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa has however denied claims of interference with the Umno disciplinary board’s proceeding process, and had said that no resignation letter had been received from Apandi yet.
