Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin was appointed Johor Umno chief at Friday’s Umno Supreme Council meeting, with Hasni expressing his frustration about the matter to Utusan Malaysia in an interview yesterday.

Hasni, who is also the Simpang Renggam MP, stressed that he has worked hard for Johor Umno since helming it in 2018 – overseeing Barisan Nasional’s (BN) convincing win at the Johor state election last March when it won 40 out of the 56 seats.

“I feel like I’m being bullied (despite) doing my best to win the Johor state election with a large majority,” he said.

“We support Khaled if he can strengthen Umno Johor’s position. However, if this (Khaled’s appointment) is being done just to defend certain people, I believe he will face difficulties,” he said when asked to comment on his position.

The Benut assemblyman said he was among those who attended Friday’s Supreme Council meeting, during which former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar were sacked from the party for breaching party discipline during the recent general election (GE15).

Meanwhile, Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein, former information chief Shahril Hamdan, ex-Jempol MP Salim Sharif, and Tebrau Umno leader Maulizan Bujang were suspended for six years.

The party also sacked five regular members from its Pasir Gudang division, nine from Putrajaya, two from Tanjong Karang, and 26 from Pahang.

Among the reasons for their sacking were standing as independent candidates in GE15, or under a different banner, as well as helping rival political parties.