UMNO will carry out a large-scale “cleansing” of the party, focusing on those who sabotaged the party and its candidates in the 15th general election, party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

He said the matter will be discussed and decided during the Umno Supreme Council meeting tomorrow. 

“In the recent Umno general assembly, I said we will carry out a large-scale cleansing of the party, including those who sabotaged the party and party candidates in GE15, including those who ‘shot themselves in the foot’ during the election. 

“When this is done on a large scale, it means there is (cleansing done). Those who have yet to feel the heat, Insya-Allah, they will tomorrow night,” Zahid, who is rural and regional development minister, told a media conference after chairing the Rural Executive Councillors and Ministers Coordination Meeting in Putrajaya.

Asked if the council will discuss the membership status of former party youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who had been critical of the party leadership as well as vocal in wanting the top two posts to be contested, Zahid said this will only be known after the meeting.

“I can’t reveal things too early, if I share it with reporters, it is no more a strategy, so I have to ‘embargo’ this piece of information until it is time to do so,” the Bagan Datuk MP said. 

The 2022 Umno General Assembly recently approved a no-contest motion for the posts of president and deputy president. However, Khairy claimed that there was an attempt to allow “imported delegates” to push through the motion.

Separately, Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the government has not yet decided whether the Political Funding Bill will be tabled in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting.

He, however, welcomed support from all political party leaders to be directly involved in drafting the bill.

“For me, although this bill has not yet been decided by the cabinet, I think statements of civil society leaders and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki should be used as a guide,” he said.

Recently, Azam was reported to have said that the MACC will investigate any form of corruption based on the provisions of the law, adding that the matter was not subject to personal interpretation.

He went on to describe alms or contributions given to voters during elections as bribes. 

Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Malaysia has also urged for Political Funding Act to be expedited to restore public trust in Malaysia’s democratic process. – Bernama, January 26, 2023.