Ku Li: Party members forced to miss my ceramah
Malaysiakini.com
May 5, 2008 

Gua Musang MP and former Umno vice president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has claimed that some party members who had wanted to attend his ceramah in Batu Pahat and Muar yesterday were threatened against doing so.
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The Umno veteran said he received the information from his ceramah organisers.

tengku razaleigh forum 260408 ku li speaking"Branch leaders that were invited to my ceramah were told not to attend and some had received threats," he told reporters after delivering his ceramah at a hotel in Muar last night.

Some 500 people, including party committee members from other party divisions in the state attended the ceramah.

Razaleigh added that this incident should not have happened as the ceramah was not an illegal gathering.

This he claimed could have happened following his intention to contest for the party presidency.

In the wake of the March 8 general elections, Razaleigh sent a letter to all party leaders urging them to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to discuss the electoral debacle.

The Gua Musang division is one of the three divisions which held EGMs so far. The others are Batu Pahat and the Cheras divisions.

This was followed by his consistent criticism on party president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, attributing the party's poor election performance to him.

Former prime minister and ex-Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohammad who has been extremely critical towards Abdullah had also backed a challenge for the top post in the party.

Abdullah however felt that there was "no need" for the divisions to hold EGMs to discuss party problems or to call for leaders to step down.

Many leaders from the party like Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein and the party's information chief Muhammad Mohd Taib have also echoed Abdullah's call and calling Razaleigh's intention to contest for the presidency as inept. 

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