A FORMER Umno minister is working to persuade his fellow members of parliament to walk out on the party, even as it reels from the collapse of its Sabah chapter.

Party sources told The Malaysian Insight the former minister has told the MPs in private meetings that they would first sit in parliament as independents before eventually joining Bersatu.

So far, the ex-minister is said to have succeeded in convincing six MPs on the peninsula, and it is a matter of time before they leave.

“The former minister has also got the MPs who are agreeable to (persuade) those reluctant to leave to follow them,” a party source told The Malaysian Insight.

“Initially 38 MPs wanted to move. Then the figure was revised down to 20.

“The figure keeps changing but what is confirmed is that six have agreed to quit. It’s just a matter of time.”

The lynchpin Barisan Nasional party won 54 parliamentary seats in the 14th general election.

The latest round of departures yesterday has reduced that number to 43 seats.

More than half of Sabah Umno’s top leaders quit the party yesterday, calling into question the viability of the state chapter.

Hajiji Mohd Noor, who was the Sabah Umno liaison chief and now the leader of the group leaving the party, said five MPs, nine assemblymen and 21 division heads will leave, taking with them more than 50% of the half a million Umno members in the Borneo state.

Other lawmakers who left the party in the months after May 9 were Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamad, Kimanis MP Anifah Aman , Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali, and Labuan MP Rozman Isli. 

Mustapa and Noor Azmi have since joined Bersatu while Rozman has been accepted into Parti Warisan Sabah.

So what is stopping Umno members from defecting en masse to Bersatu?

An MP in a northern state, who spoke on condition of anonymity said Bersatu’s strict regulation was putting the brakes for many of the Umno MPs who want to leave.

“They say we can’t hold a post in the party (Bersatu) for a year and we will not be offered a government post for a year. So what’s in it for us if we link up with them?

“If we are just going to make up the numbers we might as well stay put and fight it out at the next general election.”

Another MP said the situation has resulted in many fence-sitters.

Like them, he is waiting to “see what happens first”.

It’s natural for Umno MPs and assemblymen to gravitate towards Bersatu as it is an Umno splinter and its top leaders are mostly former Umno members.

At the last polls, Bersatu captured 13 parliamentary seats but since then Mustapa, who is the former trade and industry minister, and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi have been accepted into its fold.

Many of those who are sitting as independents, including the five MPs in Sabah, are said to be looking to join Bersatu, which observers say is bound to welcome them so as to boost its numbers. – December 12, 2018.