Permatang Pauh Umno division to be suspended?
Written by Chan Kok Leong, The Edge
It is barely a month since Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the Permatang Pasir state by-election. Yet, the implications of fielding a “wrong” candidate continue to reverberate in the Umno division.
It started with a tweet from Jelutong member of parliament Jeff Ooi on Tuesday morning saying that the Permatang Pauh Umno division would be suspended by next Tuesday.
The DAP MP added that 32 Umno branches were said to be unhappy with Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid, the Permatang Pauh division chief.
However, a committee member of the division when contacted denied that the division was heading for suspension although he admitted to some rumblings within it.
“The Permatang Pauh division has not been suspended yet. But it is true that some 30-40 branches are unhappy with the division’s leadership,” the local leader said.
According to him, the branches were disappointed with Abdul Jalil’s handling of the divisional affairs and the nomination of Rohaizat Othman as BN’s candidate in the Permatang Pasir by-election.
In the by-election last month, Rohaizat was defeated by PAS’ Mohd Salleh Man by 4,551 votes. Although the defeat was not unexpected, Umno’s campaign was sidetracked by Rohaizat’s chequered past.
Instead, the party spent most of its time defending Rohaizat, who was disbarred by the Malaysian Bar Council for personal misconduct. Apart from that, he was also fighting allegations of having a second wife.
When asked if the branches were planning an emergency general meeting to oust Abdul Jalil, the committee member said no.
“But we are hoping to meet with the national leaders to see if the division can be suspended so that a new division leader can be appointed,” he said.
The division committee member said that suspension of a division has happened before in Penang. “(The) Jelutong division was once suspended, so that a new leader could be appointed. We are hoping for the same to happen here,” he added.
According to a source within the state liaison committee which is headed by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the state was not aware of the extent of Rohaizat’s issues. “By the time we found out the extent of his problems, it was too late.”
When contacted yesterday, Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan denied there were plans to suspend the division.
“There is no plan to do that,” the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department replied via SMS.
