Yusof and Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman were suspended for six years.

The party also sacked Zaharin Mohd Yasin, who is the former Bandar Tun Razak Umno secretary, for being critical of its leaders.

Alor Setar Umno division committee member Shukri Yaakob today said grassroots leaders were disappointed with the hasty decision by the party leadership to suspend Yusof’s membership.

He said the party did not take into account Yusof’s contributions in winning back public support for the party after it lost in GE14.

Shukri said Yusof could have helped the party win back the Alor Setar parliamentary seat, as well as two out of three state seats under it — Suka Menanti and Alor Mengkudu — now held by Pakatan Harapan.

He said Yusof had been working hard to help people in need, even tending to their needs in the middle of the night.

He said after Umno lost control of the federal government in GE14, party members were embarrassed to don the party uniform.

“But after Yusof ‘polished back’ Alor Setar Umno, people began to say that it was the best division compared to other divisions in Kedah, especially in serving the people. You can go and ask around if this is true.”

Shukri said that he and 32 committee members in the Alor Star division met Kedah Umno chief Jamil Khir Baharom yesterday to hand over a memorandum to urge party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to retract the suspension order against Yusof as it would affect the party’s preparations for GE15.

“We also told him that the party president’s actions were excessive as it was done without taking into account the Umno division’s dependence on Yusof’s influence.

“The party machinery will collapse and the momentum of the election preparations will be lost without Yusof,” he added.

Shukri said Jamil gave his assurance that he would try his best to get the suspension order retracted and that all 109 branch chiefs in the Alor Setar Umno division would be meeting with him later this evening over the matter.