UMNO has dropped its plans to sue lawmakers who defected from the party to join Pakatan Harapan as such action is too costly for the cash-strapped party to undertake, said sources.

Acting president Mohamad Hasan is not keen to purse the legal action against those who left the party in recent months and instead wants to concentrate on rebuilding Umno, they said.

He is more interested to rebuild the party in the wake of its newfound camaraderie with former rival, PAS.

“Mohamad feels it is more important for Umno to focus on strengthening and restructuring the party right now,” a party source told The Malaysian Insight.

“Apart from that, the cost undertaking these legal actions has also been a main factor,” he said.

The party’s financial standing has been impacted by the Barisan Nasional’s defeat in the last elections. To make matters worse, its accounts have also been frozen by the authorities following investigations into the 1Malaysian Development Bhd scandal.

The party said earlier it will sue the defectors who first won their seats under the BN banner in the last general election.

The proposal came from party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is now on leave pending his criminal cases, leaving party matters to his deputy, Mohamad.

At the Umno annual general assembly last September, Zahid said the party has already sent legal summonses to the defectors.

Umno wanted all its former MPs who quit “pay off their debt”, he said, referring to funds the party put into their GE14 campaigns last year.

Following that, in January, Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa said the party had filed suits against its former MPs, Noor Azmi Ghazali (Bagan Serai) and Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (Masjid Tanah) to demand repayment for GE14 campaign funding.

In February, Annuar said the party will sue all former Sabah Umno lawmakers abandoned the party.

He said the party intends to go through with the court action even if it takes time and even if the MPs and assemblymen wish to re-join Umno.

Last December, nine Sabah assemblymen and five MPs left Umno, citing loss of confidence in the party leadership.

However, it appears that the party has only filed suits against Mas Ermieyati and Noor Azmi – both who joined Bersatu just like many of their other defected colleagues.

The source said the suit against the duo remains.

Umno won 54 parliamentary seats in GE14 but today, has only 37 left after the defections. – March 18, 2019.