The Umno leadership has been asked to stop practising double standards when deciding on and enforcing the guidelines and code of ethics for the upcoming party polls.

According to several supporters of candidates contesting for central posts in the party, the guidelines and code of ethics had been circulated prior to the start of divisional and branch level meetings last June.

"By right, that should be what is followed - at branch and division levels as well as at the central level," one of them said.

He said based on the guidelines, more than 70 complaints were lodged with the Umno disciplinary board concerning candidates who breached the code of ethics during the branch level and divisional elections.

"This includes the ban on campaigning using the media. But when there were candidates standing in the central polls who did so, the guidelines were changed.

"They were then allowed to be interviewed by the media as long as they did not attack or smear other candidates... that is not fair..." he said.

Khairy's interview

Meanwhile, another supporter involved said such loosening of the guidelines will surely benefit candidates from the ranks of menteris besar and cabinet ministers who are usually accompanied by media representatives.

He said such actions should have been viewed as "challenging" the directive from Umno and should have been dealt with by the party leadership.

"Instead of that... their actions were reviewed by the leadership, and after that, the guidelines were relaxed to allow candidates to be interviewed by the media, with the condition that they do not smear other candidates."

"What was worse, the loosening of the guidelines took place after Khairy Jamaluddin's prominent interview by the mainstream media a day after he won the post of Youth deputy head uncontested..."

"There will surely be some who conclude that when it involves Khairy, who is the prime minister's son-in-law, the directive which had been enforced during the polls at branch and divisional levels can also be relaxed... that is not good...," he added.

Firm action

Furthermore, he said, there was no one who could determine whether the candidates involved had been interviewed by the media, or if it had been their agents who actually arranged the meetings.

"This matter must be given due attention by the party leadership so that the loosened guidelines are not exploited by certain candidates," he added.

He is concerned that the lack of firm action by the Umno leadership will encourage certain parties to ignore the election guidelines and code of ethics in the period leading up to the general assembly due to be held on Sept 23.

"Since there is still more than a month to go before the party polls... we do not know what other loosening of existing guidelines will take place," he said.

The party polls at the central level will involve contests for the three vice-president posts, the Youth Exco, Wanita and Puteri.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak have won the posts of Umno president and deputy president respectively without contest.

Similarly, Rafidah Aziz has retained her Wanita head post, Hishammuddin Hussein the post of Youth head, and Noraini Ahmad the post of Puteri head without contest.

Shahrizat Abdul Jalil also retained her post of Wanita deputy head uncontested.