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Former Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed in a tweet on Jan. 28 that he has been fired from the UMNO party, with others rumored to have been ousted with him.

Sackings and suspensions

Amidst a flurry of rumors that a late night cull in Malaysia's UMNO was occuring, Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that he had been sacked by UMNO in a post midnight tweet.

He included "A Song of Ice and Fire" reference in his tweet, saying "Unbowed, unbent, unbroken", which are the words of House Martell of Dorne.

The Malay translation of his tweet reads, "Tonight I have been sacked from the party I love, to which I owe allegiance."

Malam ini saya dipecat oleh parti yang saya sayang, yang saya berikan kesetiaan. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken.

— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) January 27, 2023

Khairy appears to have been in conflict with his party's leadership, when he was moved from the safe seat of Rembau to the opposition stronghold of Sungai Buloh, which he lost in the 2022 general election.

At the recent ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute's annual Regional Outlook Forum, Khairy presented a vision of a reformed, centerist UMNO.

He also arguably took a shot at UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, calling him the "King of Malaysian politics".

Khairy also claimed that at the recent UMNO general assembly, that the party's leadership had essentially cheated its way into ensuring that a no-contest motion was passed on the top two positions, ensuring that Zahid would be able to hold on to the presidency, as reported by the Malay Mail.

Khairy appears to be just one of several UMNO stalwarts that received the axe.

"Mass cleansing"

The Star reported that former Chairman for UMNO's Selangor state party Noh Omar stormed out of an UMNO supreme council meeting, held on the evening of Jan. 27.

Noh spoke to assembled press, saying that several UMNO members had been sacked or suspended, and was surprised to hear that he was amongst those who had been suspended for  six years.

Noh said he demanded to be sacked rather than be suspended, and that UMNO President Zahid Hamidi had acquiesced, sacking him.

The Star reported on Jan. 26 that Zahid had said that UMNO was going for a "mass cleansing", and that it would be getting rid of "saboteurs".

It appears that he has followed through, with former Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and former UMNO Information Chief Shahril Hamdan also rumored to have been suspended for six years, according to MalaysiaKini.

Hishamuddin was one of the UMNO members who had been outspoken against a possible unity government between UMNO and the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Just after the 2022 General Election, which saw UMNO take a tremendous beating and left them with fewer than 30 seats, Hishamuddin rejected a possible coalition, saying he was ready to be sacked.

It appears that the UMNO supreme council appears, only just, to not quite be ready to match that.

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Top image via Hishammuddin Hussein/Facebook & Khairy Jamaluddin/Facebook