PETALING JAYA: Bersatu has slapped its Permatang assemblyman, Nurul Syazwani Noh, with a show-cause notice for attending the Umno general assembly on Sept 11.
In a letter, the Bersatu disciplinary board accused Syazwani of breaching the party's code of ethics and conduct for members, and of failing to preserve its good name and dignity.
Syazwani, the daughter of former Umno leader Noh Omar, denied committing the breaches, and said she has replied to the show-cause notice.
"I attended the Umno general assembly in my personal capacity, not as a Bersatu assemblyman or a delegation or representative of Perikatan Nasional.
"I attended because I was invited," she told FMT, adding that she was waiting for the disciplinary board's decision following her reply.
The first-term assemblyman denied that her presence at the Umno AGM breached Bersatu's code of conduct.
She said the party had never issued a circular barring members from attending events held by other parties.
She also pointed out that Bersatu's political bureau agreed to allow its assemblymen in Pahang to back the state's menteri besar - Umno vice-president Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail - in August.
"If the party can permit such political support, how is my presence at the Umno AGM - in my personal capacity having been invited -considered as tarnishing Bersatu's good name?" she said.
She contended that disciplinary action should be in line with the party's constitution and procedures, including clearly stating the provisions she was alleged to have breached.
This would ensure fairness and compliance with the party's constitution, she said.
Syazwani caught the media's attention at the Umno AGM after she was seen dressed similar to the Wanita Umno delegates.
It also came amid Umno's "Rumah Bangsa" initiative, which led to her father rejoining the party having left Bersatu previously.
Syazwani, who resigned as Wanita Bersatu information chief in March, said she remains a Bersatu member, although she has yet to determine her next "home".
She nonetheless said she respected the mandate given to her by voters in Permatang, and was committed to seeing out her term.
"Any decision concerning my political future would only be made after the dissolution of the Selangor assembly," she said.