By Carolyn Hong

KUALA LUMPUR: When Datuk Ahmad Ismail, a Penang Umno divisional leader, refused to retract his statement about Chinese 'immigrants and squatters' despite being punished by the party, it was an ominous signal to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

He is in for a rough ride in the run-up to the party election in December, and his fortunes have just taken a sharp dip. Some segments of the Umno grassroots are unhappy over the three-year suspension of Mr Ahmad for his inflammatory remarks.

An Umno Youth division leader in Selangor told The Straits Times that he received scores of text messages yesterday, complaining that the punishment was one-sided.

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