Apandi says Umno probing Hisham, but Annuar Musa doubts it

• UPDATE: Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa doubts report of disciplinary probe as supreme council not informed.

Umno's disciplinary board has confirmed that it is conducting a probe against Sembrong Umno chief Hishammuddin Hussein.

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa, however, has disputed this.

The disciplinary board chairperson Mohamed Apandi Ali told Malaysiakini that investigations were ongoing.

The former attorney-general declined to comment on why Hishammuddin was being investigated.

However, Malaysiakini understands that the former Umno vice-president is being probed for disciplinary breaches, including meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Hishammuddin, together with PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, and secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, as well as GPS chief whip Fadillah Yusof, had met with Mahathir at the end of July.

Hishammuddin said there was nothing unusual about the meeting, while Mahathir said it was just a chit-chat.

The Sembrong MP's meeting with the prime minister, however, may have put him at odds with a party ruling on July 24, that only Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi can represent the party in any political negotiations.

'Disciplinary board an independent body'

Meanwhile, Apandi denied allegations that the disciplinary committee had been blocked by the top leadership from taking action against Hishammuddin.

"That is false information. Investigations are ongoing, and the disciplinary board is an independent body that is not subject to any orders from the party leadership.

"We are free from any influence or pressure," he said.

Following the publication of Malaysiakini's article, Annuar (photo) said the party's supreme council had not received any information about Hishammuddin getting probed.

"Malaysiakini's article about Hishammuddin being investigated by the disciplinary board is disputed.

"Umno's management has not received any complaints about him. (However) if the complaint was made directly to the disciplinary board, they are free to investigate complaint's prima facie and report it to the supreme council.

"Thus far there has been no information about this," he tweeted.

Annuar also tweeted that Hishammuddin met Mahathir in his personal capacity, and he "felt" this was not wrong.

This is not the first time Hishammuddin has been in the party's bad books.

Last year, he was accused by insiders of engineering defections from Umno to Bersatu.

He denied these allegations. - Mkini