News reports claiming that Umno was preparing to amend Clause 9.9 of the party's constitution are erroneous, party vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin said today.

In a statement, Khaled said the allegations were untrue and amounted to slander.

He also chided Malaysiakini for publishing a report citing Singapore's Straits Times which reported that the Umno constitutional amendment was part of a plot to remove Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Najib Abdul Razak from the party.

According to Straits Times, the purported new rule was aimed at automatically terminating the membership of party members who were charged in court.

Both Ahmad Zahid and Najib are currently facing many graft charges.

Khaled said Malaysiakini should have contacted him first before running the report and that the news portal was acting in bad faith.

On May 20, Malaysiakini had reported, citing its own sources, that amendments to Clause 9.9 were likely to be tabled when the party delegates meet in November.

Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa said news reports on amendments to Clause 9.9 were pure speculation at this point and that Khaled was leading a committee to gather views on the amendment.