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KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Supreme Council member Tan Sri Noh Omar is ready to face the sack if speaking out for the sake of the party is seen as sabotage.
He said he is prepared to be hauled up by the party’s disciplinary board and willing to address each accusation against him.
“I am prepared to accept any decisions made by the party. If they want to fire me, go ahead; I don’t care. If Umno leaders want to find fault with others for their loss in GE15, it is up to them,” he told Sinar Harian.
Four other Umno leaders in the Tg Karang division, including Noh’s son, have been given notices to meet the Umno management committee on January 30.
They are Tg Karang Umno secretary Jasman Anuar, Puteri Umno division chief Salbiah Saari, Umno divisional committee member Yusop Omar, and Puteri Umno divisional committee member Nurul Syazwani.
All five were said to be accused of betrayal during the 15th general election (GE15) last November.
Noh, however, was unperturbed by the accusations as Umno suffered major losses nationwide. The party only managed to win 26 parliamentary seats, a historic low for the Barisan Nasional linchpin.
“Did the betrayal occur only at Tg Karang in the last election? If Tg Karang was the only one, what about those who lost in Selangor? Can we claim that they betrayed the party too?
“There were many losses. Even in Melaka, we couldn’t win a single seat in the state election when two years ago we had won a majority in the state. It’s illogical to blame others.
“The Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat itself was won by only 340 votes, was there internal sabotage? If Umno wants to move forward, don’t look for excuses. We must turn a new leaf through self-reflection and forget about the past,” he was quoted as saying, referring to Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s stronghold.
“We can’t simply say there was internal sabotage when we lost. The people may reject the party due to several factors. For example, the loss in Tg Karang was perhaps due to an unfavourable candidate.”
Meanwhile, Noh revealed that he was among four Supreme Council members who did not support the motion to have the party’s top two posts uncontested in the coming internal polls.
He added that this was to defend the interests of the party, religion, and nation, and should not be seen as a betrayal.
He also reiterated party decisions that he obeyed, such as signing the statutory declaration to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister and withdrawing support for the government led by Perikatan Nasional’s Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“It was proof that I am a party man. When I did not support the 2022 Umno general assembly motion and rejected the suggestion that the top two positions should not be contested, I was immediately branded as a traitor.”
The Vibes today reported that at least three embattled senior Umno leaders are facing the possibility of sacking by the party, with their future in the political outfit likely to be made known tonight.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the trio is among a long list of Umno members whose names have been mentioned by the party’s disciplinary board for stern action.
However, the Supreme Council, which will meet at the party’s headquarters tonight, will have the final say on the matter. – The Vibes, January 27, 2023