Wednesday December 3, 2008

Zaid sacked from Umno

By: SA’ODAH ELIAS, ROYCE CHEAH and NURBAITI HAMDAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno has sacked former de-facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for attending events organised by several opposition parties.

Announcing this last night, Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the sacking would take effect immediately.

He said Zaid would not be given the chance to appeal against the decision.

“We need to take this drastic action because Zaid’s action in attending functions and being seen with opposition leaders are against the party’s ethics.

“In such cases, we need to act tough. Umno is always consistent and we cannot be seen as practising double standards,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting here.

When contacted, Zaid said he would speak to the press tomorrow.

Last week, Zaid started another round of attacks against him by his former Umno colleagues when he attended yet another high-profile Pakatan Rakyat event on Saturday.

He was one of the high-profile guests at the event – the opening of PKR national congress – and was seated on the front row, next to SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

He attended the congress at Stadium Mela­wati just days after he appeared at a victory dinner hosted by the DAP in George Town, Penang.

He had resigned as a minister and senator on Sept 17 after he disagreed with the government’s decision to detain a journalist, a blogger and a Pakatan Member of Parliament under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

He was criticised by others in Umno for calling for a repeal of the ISA and criticising ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).

He had recently been issued a show cause letter from Umno for attending the opposition events.

At last night’s meeting, Abdullah also announced the suspension of Petaling Jaya Selatan division leader Datuk Zahar Hashim for three years.

Abu Zahar has made several open allegations against the Umno’s leadership.