Othman Desa, who is also chairman of the Umno Veterans group, said a massive “cleansing” is currently under way in Umno to ensure the party’s future is protected and the party continues to be accepted by the public.
“Those who were subjected to action before should have a big heart and not do anything that will damage Umno again by inciting (others) or being provocateurs,” he told FMT.
“Even if they want to (provoke), just don’t involve others.”
He was commenting on the criticism by some former Umno members following the expulsion and suspension of several Umno leaders from the party.
Following the outcome of the Umno Supreme Council meeting on Friday night, former Ketereh MP Annuar Musa said, the “total cleansing” of the party will “only produce more dirt because the real source of the dirt is still in the party”.
In a Facebook post, the former Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general said there were those within the party who were “proud to monopolise power in the party”.
Annuar, who was sacked by Umno on Dec 8, said the public had clearly rejected Umno in the last general election (GE15), but the party seemed to be in denial about the matter.
Meanwhile, former Arau Umno chief Shahidan Kassim, who was stripped of his membership for contesting under a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket in GE15, called Umno an “insane” party and one eager to fire its members.
“For those who have been fired, be patient. We will defend you. Long live PN,” Shahidan said.
Commenting further, Othman said that even though Umno’s “cleansing” was seen as an “unpopular act”, he stressed that it was a necessary one.
While acknowledging that former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former information chief Shahril Hamdan were among the Umno members who had the potential to continue shining, Othman said that without discipline and respect for the party’s leaders, they would only weaken the party.
“They often comment (negatively) on the party, so when outsiders look at us (Umno), we are seen as weak,” he said.
“It’s not that Umno cannot be criticised or reprimanded, but if we do this openly, it can weaken Umno – and this (criticism) has violated Umno’s rules and constitution,” he said.
“Just consider what happened as a disciplinary process. There is no need to polemicise this issue.”
Apart from Khairy, former Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar, was also sacked for breaching party discipline in GE15.
Meanwhile, Shahril, former vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein, former Jempol MP Salim Sharif, and Umno Tebrau head Maulizan Bujang were all suspended for six years.