Some 600 members of Umno’s Batu Sapi division have reportedly left the party following former party vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal’s suspension.

This is because the Umno supreme council suspended Shafie without calling him to defend his case, Batu Sapi Umno vice-chief Pangiran Roslan Pangiran Nasrun was quoted as saying by Berita Harian yesterday.

This caused him and other Umno members to lose faith in the Umno leadership and party president Najib Abdul Razak.

“We made this decision (with immediate effect) because we do not agree with the Umno supreme council’s move. We vow to support and fight together with Shafie.

“Shafie’s suspension is akin to an insult to Umno leaders in Sabah, especially to Shafie’s supporters,” Pangiran Roslan was quoted as saying.

The 600 members reportedly came from 100 branches in the Batu Sapi division.

Shafie, who is also the Semporna MP and Umno division chief, was suspended on June 24. He had been a vocal critic of Najib and 1MDB.

His suspension reportedly triggered a wave of resignations among Semporna Umno’s ranks, although the numbers reported varied greatly, from 50 to 300 people.

Shafie himself resigned from Umno on July 4, after his return from umrah, on grounds that he was not called to defend himself prior to his suspension.