PETALING JAYA: Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi (pic) has been branded as the first to betray the party.
Umno Youth Education and Student Council member Syed Mohd Syed Nasir said Puad’s move to disclose the name list of those sacked and suspended before the official announcement was made by Umno had led to the worst split in the party.
“He (Mohd Puad) also named Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahya among those who were suspended from the party,” Sinar Daily reported him as saying.
On Friday (Jan 27), Mohd Puad confirmed to the media that former Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Noh Omar were sacked, while former Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was among those suspended for six years.
Mohd Puad also said that former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, former youth exco member Fathul Bari, former Johor state exco member and Tebrau Umno division chief Datuk Maulizan Bujang and former Jempol MP Datuk Seri Mohd Salim Mohd Shariff were also suspended for six years.
However, when Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan later announced the list of almost 50 Umno members who were either sacked or suspended, Fathul Bari’s name was not among them.
Fathul Bari’s aide Adnan Abu Bakar, had urged Mohd Puad to apologise for jumping the gun and said that his tattletale behaviour had tarnished Fathul Bari’s image.
Syed Mohd also called Mohd Puad a traitor for labelling Umno a corrupted party when the latter was not nominated to stand as candidate in the 14th General Election (GE14).