Mahdzir said the Umno constitution clearly spelt out the kind of penalty that can be imposed on members who violated party regulations.

“To me, it should not have happened but it did.

“It’s not right for people to resort to such drastic action,” he said when commenting on the actions of former Arau MP Shahidan Kasim and former Maran MP Ismail Abdul Muttalib.

Speaking to reporters after a gathering with Kafa teachers and the Padang Terap district mosque committee here, he said leaders should accept decisions with an open heart if they are not selected to contest, adding that this was the reality of politics.

Shahidan and Ismail were announced as PN candidates for Arau and Maran respectively by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in Marang, Terengganu, yesterday.

Asked if the two leaders had been stripped of their Umno membership, he said this was provided for in the party constitution but declined to elaborate as the focus now was on winning GE15.

Shahidan, who is also the federal territories minister, and Ismail, who is the deputy housing and local government minister, won their seats on a Barisan Nasional ticket in GE14.

However, for GE15, Umno has picked Rozabil Abd Rahman for the Arau seat and Shahniza Shamsudin for Maran.