KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — Umno information chief Isham Jalil has rejected former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s allegation of "import delegates” at the party’s 2022 annual general assembly (PAU) today.

Isham said he he did not see the sign of these imported delegates at the venue of the general assembly, adding that the delegates were all familiar with each other.

"KJ (Khairy) must know, every representative in Dewan Merdeka who represents their respective divisions knows each other who is sitting in their row of chairs or who is sitting next to them.

"If there are people they don’t know or shouldn’t be there, they will know and the pass inspectors will know,” he said in a statement today.

Isham also invited Khairy to personally visit Dewan Merdeka now to point out the alleged imported delegates.

"If not, I hope KJ can apologise to all the Umno representatives here for accusing them of being imported.

"And need to apologise to the pass inspectors and the Youth squad for slandering them for not carrying out their duties and responsibilities,” he said

Separately, Selangor Umno information chief Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos also said that as the Sungai Besar Umno chief, he has been observing the event since morning and did not find any problems.

"We want the disciplinary body to take action for his allegation.

"I hope KJ will be suspended for giving baseless slander and embarrassing the party,” he told the media in the press conference corner.

Jamal also added that he believed if the allegations were true, it was by people allegedly paid by Khairy, including the incident when a delegate was jeered for supporting a motion of no contest for the top two post in Umno.

Earlier today, Khairy took to TikTok to claim that stealthy manoeuvres have been put in place to prevent Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan from facing competitors over their positions.

In the four-minute video, Khairy said that he suspected the voting session on the additional motion for the top leadership posts to remain status quo will be passed.

He also asserted that name tags have been removed from delegate’s seats in the hall where the voting will take place, ostensibly to facilitate the entry of import delegates into the hall and vote in support of the motion.