Umno disciplinary committee chairperson Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Tengku Ismail made a startling suggestion today to prevent money politics in the party.

If the party is serious in addressing this scourge, he said, Umno should restructure its organisation by abolishing the wings.

tengku ahmad rithaudeen tengku ismail He said this was necessary to rebuild Umno's image and strengthen the party, which for over 50 years had been the pillar of the nation's stability.

According to him, money politics could be checked if the party elections could be reduced by abolishing the wings, especially those recently established.

"I was thinking whether there was a need for Puteri Umno and Putera, as this means more money politics.

“Perhaps even having the Youth and Wanita wings should be weighed now. In England, there is no women's wing in the Conservative Party nor the Labour Party," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Tengku Rithauddeen said Puteri and Putera members who were still young, should focus on their studies rather than on politics.

"They don't need political exposure that early. Many of them are still in their teens and twenties," said the Umno veteran, who believed that the young wings were involved in money politics but so far, none of the members had lodged complaints.

He said this group of people still needed to learn a lot of things as the country depended on its youths to lead the country in the future and to compete with the rest of the world.

"If they are preoccupied with politics, they won't be able to focus on anything else," he added.

Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen hoped that his suggestion would be considered and opined that the nomination quota system should also be abolished because of its ill effect of money politics.

Two more Umno members suspended

In another development, Umno's disciplinary board suspended two more members after they were found to have breached party regulations.

Batu division Wanita Umno member Nor Aisah Rajab was suspended for six years or two terms for lodging false reports pertaining to Umno's divisional elections held recently.

Taiping Umno member Muzamir Ismail, who is also a blogger, was suspended a year were posting inappropriate pictures in his blog, slander and being an agent for certain parties.

On Dec 22, the disciplinary board suspended Pokok Sena Umno chief Ahmad Lebai Sudin for two years and another Wanita Umno member for three years, also for breach of party regulations. Their suspensions were effective last Dec 7.

Besides the suspensions, Tengku Rithauddeen said three Umno members were given warnings for misconduct.

The trio are Bukit Bintang Umno secretary Mohd Zailan Mokhtar, Permatang Pauh Umno member Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said and Langkawi Umno member Shaidan Hashim.

However, nine members were found not guilty to the complaints lodged against them.

Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen said, a total of 224 of 974 complaints had been investigated by the board since the beginning of last year.

"A total of 147 complaints have yet to be probed, 92 need additional documents before a probe can be commenced while there will be no further action for 187 complaints," he said, adding that 194 cases did not come under the purview of the board and no decision had been taken whether to act on 124 complaints .

On Umno's Bota state assemblyeprson Nasaruddin Hashim crossing over to PKR, Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen said he was disappointed by his action and hoped others would not follow suit as Umno and the Barisan Nasional had served the people well since independence.