RAFIDAH, DAIM SACKED FROM UMNO, RAIS STILL UNDER PROBE
They criticised Umno on opposition stage, says Hishammuddin
THE expulsion of two Umno veterans who campaigned for the opposition is justified, said Umno vice-president, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
Yesterday, Umno secretarygeneral Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor announced the expulsion from the party of former ministers Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and Tun Daim Zainuddin after they expressed support for the opposition pact and criticised Umno.
Tengku Adnan said Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim, another Umno veteran and former minister, was under investigation by the party for the same reason Rafidah and Daim were expelled.
“Which party will allow members to go on the opposition stage to criticise and humiliate the party?” Hishammuddin said at a gathering at Felda Chemplak Barat in Labis near here yesterday.
Hishammuddin, who is defence minister, said if action had not been taken against the party veterans, he would have asked for them to be expelled.
“Such action will be taken by any party. Don’t be a hypocrite, trying to point fingers at us. Their actions and words have indicated that they are clearly no longer with us,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
He said if the veterans were not expelled, the morale of Barisan Nasional component parties and members would be affected.
Yesterday, Tengku Adnan said Umno sent letters to Rafidah and Daim informing them that their memberships had been stripped.
He said discussion were ongoing on Rais’ membership status.
Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications director Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said if the veterans wanted to discuss corruption, they must not fear talking about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s role in the issue.
“If Rafidah, Rais and Daim want to talk about corruption and abuse of power, they should not fear asking (Dr) Mahathir. who has been labelled the biggest culprit in Malaysia by their friends in the opposition.
“Only then there will be credibility and legitimacy in their claims that they want to be anticorruption champions.
“Rafidah and Daim have been implicated in the opposition’s allegations of corruption for decades. They can’t just be anticorruption champions that easily now. This shows how plastic they are,” he said in a tweet yesterday.
He said the three were part of a legacy of the crony capitalist system established by Dr Mahathir.
He said PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and his son, Guan Eng, had called the system established by Dr Mahathir as systematic corruption involving tens of billions of ringgit.
“I’m sorry, but they have no credibility or legitimacy to speak on the issue. My skin crawls when Rafidah and Daim speak about corruption. The sensation is worse when (Dr) Mahathir is sitting and smiling on the same stage.”