COMMOTION at Umno branch meeting

SEREMBAN - A commotion took place during the Umno Kampung Gadong branch meeting today, leading the meeting to be postponed for the second time after some members claimed that their names were missing from the branch membership list.

The meeting had been scheduled to be held at the Rasah Umno division building here at 3pm yesterday, after the first one on Sept 1 was postponed for the same reason.

Several branch members claimed their names were replaced with new members who were unknown to the branch members and locals there.

The commotion led Umno branch permanent chairman Mokhtar Othman to postpone the meeting.

"Some members were not happy as their names were not in the list, leading us to leave it to the Umno division to set a date for another meeting," he said, adding that a registration of new members could not be conducted.

Meanwhile, former branch chief Baharuddin Abu Bakar, claimed the problem began in 2009 when more than 100 out of 258 branch members were removed.

"I was shocked to see names of people I did not know," he said.

Rohayati Ayub, 63, said she was surprised when she was told her name was not in the branch members list when she attended the meeting a week ago.

"I am a member of the party and never faced this problem before. All of a sudden I'm not allowed to attend the meeting anymore," she said.

Meanwhile, Umno Rasah division chief, Datuk Hasim Rusdi said he was not going to pick sides on this matter.

"Members whose names were removed from the list can lodge a complaint and if proven true, we will rectify it. In fact, before this, there was a branch chief charged for casting members without permission,"

Hasim who is the party's state liaison committee secretary, advised all members to follow Umno party's Constitution to avoid any unwanted incidences.

- New Straits Times