Umno Racist Ahmad Ismail Suspended For Three Years, Stripped Of All Party Posts

The Umno Supreme Council today suspended Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail for three years due to the racist remarks which he had allegedly made about the Chinese.

The decision was reached at a special meeting of the Umno supreme council held at the PWTC Wednesday afternoon. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi chaired the meeting.

Abdullah told a press conference after the meeting that Ahmad would also be stripped of all party posts.

The meeting was held after Barisan Nasional component parties said they wanted “immediate and stern action” to be taken against Ahmad during a meeting of the coalition’s supreme council on Tuesday afternoon. However, because it involved a party matter, they left it to Umno to act.

The Prime Minister had said on Tuesday that the issue had caused uneasiness, worry and anger among the people.“Some (component parties) expressed their disappointment over what transpired while some showed anger.

“All of us are of the view that Ahmad’s comments are not acceptable at all. What he said has caused anger and concern among the people, non-bumiputras and bumiputras alike, not just in the peninsula but also in Sabah and Sarawak,” Abdullah told reporters on Tuesday.

Ahmad stirred a hornet’s nest recently when he said in a speech while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election that the Chinese were immigrants in the country and did not deserve equal treatment.

Despite criticisms from various community leaders, he refused to apologise. (The Star Online)

***** Keeping in mind the general sentiment of support within Umno for the racist, the three years suspension can be considered 'at least something'. Those who had expected him to be charged under the ISA are probably disappointed but given the present situation such a move would have been politically hazardous for Pak Lah. The PM has to walk a fine line here, taking care not to rile the Umnoputeras too much while at the same time placating the component parties.

Probably the racist bastard too knows that he cannot be dealt with more severely by the Supreme Council. And as if to prove that, the son of a bitch was reported to have just announced that he won't retract his statements, but urged his supporters to 'stay calm'. He's just itching to get his comeuppance and history shows that sooner or later such freaks will always fall and fall hard.