Umno leaders violating party constitution by contesting on other tickets, says veep

Two Umno leaders dropped from contesting the 15th general election (GE15) have breached the party constitution by opting to stand on a Perikatan Nasional (PN) ticket, says Umno vice-president Mahdzir Khalid.

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

"To me, it should not have happened but it did. It’s not right for people to resort to such a drastic action," he said on the actions of Arau incumbent Shahidan Kasim and Maran incumbent Ismail Abdul Muttalib.

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Nerang today, he said the reality in politics was that leaders should accept it with an open heart if they are not selected to contest.

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

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

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

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