Umno Padang Besar division head Zahidi Zainul Abidin was today warned by the party's secretary-general Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad not to proceed with plans to invite former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamed to officiate its division meeting.

The party's supreme council had previously decided that the prerogative belongs only to its supreme council members, cabinet ministers, state menteris besar, or the heads of the 191 divisions themselves, said Radzi.

If Zahidi proceeded with his plans, he will breach party discipline and will face the consequences of his actions, Radzi warned.

"I'm very disappointed and I hope he won't go through with this. The party discipline must be upheld," said Radzi, who is also home minister, at a press conference at his ministry this morning.

Such a decision had been reached earlier by the supreme council even during Mahathir's time when there were concerns over money politics in divisional meetings, noted Radzi.

"The question (of Mahathir officiating a division) does not arise," he added.

'Nothing controversial'

On Wednesday, the Star quoted Zahidi, who is among the party's up-and-coming leaders aspiring for the youth wing's leadership, as saying that there was "nothing controversial about inviting a respectable statesman to open a division meeting."

Describing Mahathir as a "true Umno leader" and "an internationally acclaimed leader," Zahidi said Mahathir "deserves a chance to speak on an Umno platform. We do not want the opposition to take advantage of the current situation," he added.

Contacted today, Zahidi said he would proceed with his plans to invite the former premier until there was a directive in black and white from the party to him against doing so.

On a related matter, Radzi said that although Umno could not stop its members from participating in gatherings involving Mahathir organised by opposition figures, he felt 'sad' that some had chosen to do so.

"If (the gathering) is organised by the opposition, don't expect Umno members to attend. (But) we don't stop it," he said.

"We don't want the opposition to use Mahathir. Like today, the event was organised by someone sacked from the party. What kind of a party (would Umno be) without discipline?" said Radzi.

He was referring to the gathering organised this morning by former party stalwart Ibrahim Ali, who has joined forces with Islamic opposition party PAS after his sacking from Umno in 2004.

Very un-Umno

Radzi also expressed outrage at the incident where the 81-year-old Mahathir was pepper-sprayed by an assailant just as he arrived this morning at Kota Bahru airport.

"Umno has never treated its members this way! This is not the way to treat people!" said Radzi when told of the incident.

"I hope (the assailant) is not an Umno member. This is a very un-Umno way of doing things," he added.

According to Bernama , the former premier was seen coughing after the incident while journalists next to him also complained of eye-irritation.

According to a source, the incident was linked to the rivalry between two groups of Mahathir supporters. One led by Ibrahim and the other by former Umno Kuala Krai leader Nik Safian Nik Yusof.

The source said the two factions were at odds over who should host the Mahathir functions.

Meanwhile, the Star quoted Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan as saying that the person responsible for the attack has been identified.