PUNISHING ROGUE UMNO LEADERS WILL BACKFIRE ON PARTY, NAZRI SAYS

(MMO)

Umno should showcase its maturity and refrain from taking action against leaders simply for criticising the party, said Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

The Umno minister said the party should be sufficiently realistic to accept that some forms of dissent will exist, adding that punitive action would portray Umno as rejecting freedom of expression.

“We are 70 years old; our party should be big enough to accept criticism.

“I think it is foolish on our part if we take action against these Umno leaders because it will go to show we are intolerant,” Nazri told Malay Mail Online in an interview.

He said disciplinary action should only be taken against Umno leaders in cases where they were found to be working together with the party’s rivals.

“So far this issue (rogue Umno leaders) has not gained traction...if you take action against and say sack them it gains traction and becomes a new issue.

“I hope Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is different from other Umno presidents and focuses on his policy agendas as he is getting stronger every day,” the Padang Rengas MP said.

He also said it would be hypocritical for Umno to punish some leaders but not Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the latter has been overtly critical of Najib for the past year.

Seven Umno leaders who openly criticised the party will likely have their memberships and party posts suspended, according to Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

The Umno secretary-general confirmed that some of the seven unnamed Umno leaders currently held party posts, and that the matter was currently being investigated by the party's disciplinary board.

Last month, Tengku Adnan said that Umno was monitoring six to seven party leaders who may have violated party rules.

He said this when asked if Umno would act against former Umno president and ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir for openly demanding Najib’s resignation.

Other leaders who have been critical of the Umno leadership and the government's stand on issues such as 1Malaysia Development Berhad include Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.

Najib dropped Muhyiddin as deputy prime minister and removed Shafie as the rural and regional development minister during a Cabinet reshuffle in July.

Muhyiddin and Shafie recently joined Dr Mahathir and three other senior politicians in criticising Putrajaya's use of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 to detain Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang over reports they lodged on 1MDB.