Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim has confirmed that the 13 suspended party branches in Jelutong are officially deactivated.

NONE Azhar ( right) , who is state Opposition leader, said the decision was made during Sunday's Barisan Nasional meeting in Penang.

He denied that the branches were re-activated after they were controversially suspended by the party in 2008.

"We have made the decision last Sunday and the branches have been deactivated, meaning totally closed," Azhar told Malaysiakini before attending a breakfast meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Hotel Equatorial today.

When asked what would happen to the existing members of the closed branches, Azhar, who is Penaga assemblyperson, said they had all been absorbed into the other 25 branches.

Following the Permatang Pauh by-election in 2008, 13 out of 17 Umno branches in Jelutong were suspended by the party's supreme council.

Errors in membership lists

No reasons for the suspension were cited. However, it was reportedly said that those branches were suspended due to several problems, including errors in their membership lists.

The branches were said to have also admitted non-Malay members into their membership lists.

Meanwhile, Azhar said the matter had been handed over to the state Umno to handle.

deputy prime minister muhyiddin yassin at sekolah menengah sains hulu selangor 020410 02 "Muhyiddin ( left ) himself has handed over the matter to the state Umno and we have made a decision to deactivate all the said branches, so there is no more question of them being re-activated," he added.

He was responding to media reports stating that the embattled branches had been reactivated by the party.

Two weeks ago, the Persiaran Perak branch chairperson, Idris Osman, was quoted as saying in the media that the branches have been reactivated.

Other than Persiaran Perak, the other branches included Kampung Paya, Persisiran Sungai, Jalan P. Ramlee, Taman Hijau, Jalan Kampar, Taman Nusantara, Kampung Che Ros, Medan Tengku, Jelutong Barat, Jelutong Pantai, Batu Lanchang, Jalan Sungai, Taman Indah, Taman Perak, Pengkalan Haji Kassim and Taman Cemerlang.

There were previously 42 branches under the Jelutong division.