Just break from tradition, says Ku Li of Muhyiddin speech ban at Umno assembly

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah says there is nothing sinister of the move to restrict Umno’s deputy president from officiating meetings at the party’s general assembly. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, December 5, 2015.

The move to disallow the party’s deputy president from officiating the meetings of the wings at the Umno general assembly was merely a break from tradition, veteran party leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said today.

He said that traditions could evolve or change and whether the deputy president opened the meeting of the party’s wings was the prerogative of the leadership.

“It is the decision of the leadership, if the leadership feels that only the leaders of the wings would address the gatherings of the Wanita, Puteri and Pemuda, its a breakaway from the so-called tradition,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a forum in Kuala Lumpur.

When pressed further about the ban on Muhyiddin in light of recent events, the Gua Musang MP said that was a different context altogether.

“That is a different context, we are talking about the general assembly, I have given my views on it.

“In relation to what is happening in the country and what provoked the changes, that is a different matter entirely,” he said without elaborating.

The Umno Supreme Council decided last week that the three Umno wings’ meetings would be officiated by the respective heads and no longer by the deputy president.

Party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the proposal came from the Umno wings.

The Umno general assembly begins on Tuesday with the opening of the three wings’ meetings.

Muhyiddin lost his deputy prime minister's position in a Cabinet reshuffle in late July after criticising Najib's  handling of his brainchild 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which is mired in debt.

He has continued to speak against the prime minister on these issues.

- TMI