‘Boycott Umno functions until doomsday’

KUANTAN: Rather than apologising, a defiant Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob instead welcomed the National Union of Journalists Malaysia to boycott state Umno functions “until doomsday”.

The Pahang Mentri Besar said it was NUJ's right to hold a boycott as long as the people did not do the same with Barisan Nasional.

“I am leaving it to NUJ. It is their right. As an old person, my heart is clean. I hold no grudges.

“Since becoming the Mentri Besar, I have always put the press at the front and supported their programmes.

“I want to point out that certain of these NUJ members would have shut down without the support of Umno,” Adnan said during the state assembly sitting here yesterday.

At the state Umno convention on Saturday, reporters covering the closing ceremony by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein were jeered at and told to leave by party delegates.

The incident appeared to have stemmed from a miscommunication as the press had been told by Adnan's press secretary that the event was a closed-door meeting. However, Hishammuddin's staff invited pressmen to cover the ceremony.

Adnan was disappointed at seeing reporters in the hall and proceeded to say he did not need the press.