Hishammuddin and Khairy a no show on the first day of the Umno General Assembly

KUALA LUMPUR - A few familiar faces seem to be missing at the Umno general assembly which opened tonight and will continue till Saturday.

Ahead of its deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Hasan's opening speech for the party's youth and puteri wings, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin were no where to be seen.

Umno vice president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was not spotted at Umno's president Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi's closed door presidential briefing but appeared later at night for Mohamed Hasan's opening speech.

Party leaders that were seen at Dewan Merdeka include vice presidents Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin.

Also present were Youth chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Wajdi Dusuki, Wanita chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad, Puteri chief Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman. Earlier secretary-general Ahmad Maslan had announced that Zahid would hold a closed door meeting for 3,000 delegates to explain the party’s decision to join the unity government.

"The president cannot go into detail about the unity government in his policy speech. Therefore, he will explain every related issue and why the matter was decided in such a way in the briefing," he was reported as saying.

Umno delegates and grassroots from all over the country had come tonight to listen to Mohamed Hassan' speech which will indicate the theme for the party's general assembly in the next four days.