Umno purge: 'Those crying foul did nothing when I was sacked'

Umno purge: 'Those crying foul did nothing when I was sacked'


Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has reflected on his departure from Umno in 2008 while taking a swipe at several individuals who were recently sacked or suspended by the party’s supreme council.

Taking to Twitter, Zaid (above) said - like those who were purged from the party on Friday - he was also sacked from Umno without going through due process.

“When I was sacked from Umno years ago for being too liberal, there was no show cause, no warning, and no basis.

“Yet, the guys who are now complaining did nothing,” said Zaid, who rejoined Umno last year after stints in multiple parties.

He first joined Umno in 2000 and won the Kota Bahru parliamentary seat in 2004. He was not chosen as a candidate for the following general election in 2008.

Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as then Umno president, sacked Zaid in December 2008 for attending opposition events.

Zaid reportedly attended the PKR congress held in November 2008 before he joined the party and made a failed attempt to run as deputy president two years later.

He quit PKR in 2010 and then formed his own party, which failed to take off. Following that, he joined DAP from 2017 to 2020.

Without naming names, he also tweeted, “You are never far from injustice if you decide to pick and choose when it is applicable.”

‘Cleaning up’ Umno

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi previously said the party will undergo a clean-up operation and the party’s supreme council at its meeting on Friday subsequently decided to sack former Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar for breaching party discipline during the 15th general election.

The party also suspended its former vice-president and Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein, former information chief Shahril Hamdan, Tebrau Umno division leader Maulizan Bujang, and former Jempol MP Salim Sharif for six years.

Five Umno members from Pasir Gudang, nine from Putrajaya, two from Tanjong Karang, and 26 from Pahang were also sacked.

Yesterday, Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he objected to the purge as he claimed the process was flawed without any recommendation from the party’s disciplinary committee to Zahid for such actions to be taken.