Umno supreme council considers suspended members’ reinstatement appeals

The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) president, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has revealed that the party’s supreme council has received several written appeals from suspended members seeking reinstatement. Though the exact number of applications was not disclosed, Hamidi assured that the UMNO disciplinary board would carefully examine each case.

“Many UMNO friends who were suspended wanted to return to the party and they have applied to be reinstated as a member,” Hamidi said. He added that a report would be prepared by the disciplinary board after reviewing the applications, which would then be submitted to the central committee for consideration. The supreme council would only receive the report once the central committee had made a decision on whether to accept or reject the applications.

“We are open to the recommendations of the disciplinary board and the central committee,” Hamidi told reporters at a press conference following the conclusion of the UMNO general assembly 2023 at the World Trade Centre.

Hamidi clarified that the applications did not involve those who were expelled from the party. “To this day, I haven’t received any response or appeal from those expelled from UMNO to rejoin the party,” he said.

On January 27, the then UMNO secretary-general, Ahmad Maslan, announced the expulsion of several party members, including supreme council member Noh Omar and former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, for breaching the party constitution. Additionally, five UMNO members from the Pasir Gudang division, nine from the Putrajaya division, two from the Tanjung Karang division, and 26 members from Pahang were removed from the party.

Sembrong UMNO division chief Hishammuddin Hussein was suspended for six years, along with UMNO Youth vice-chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, Tebrau division chief Maulizan Bujang, and Jempol division chief Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif. The offences committed included standing as independent candidates, representing parties other than Barisan Nasional (BN), and assisting opposition parties during the 15th general election (GE15).