KELANTAN Umno remains strong and united despite its veteran leader, Mustapa Mohamad, quitting the party after 40 years last month, said the party’s state liaison chief, Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub.

The Machang MP said only the mid-level leadership had been affected by Mustapa’s departure.

“Even though Tok Pa and several other leaders have left Umno, Kelantan Umno is still firm and united. There are no problems at the grassroots level.

“The ones affected are the mid-level (leaders), like division chiefs and assemblymen.

“There is no problem down the line. Even the ruling parties (in Pakatan Harapan) are looking to attract our members but have so far failed,” Jazlan told The Malaysian Insight in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan.

He added that the Kelantanese had difficulty accepting parties other than Umno and PAS, which have dominated the political landscape in the state for decades.

Jazlan said even if it came down to Umno being disbanded, as being speculated by some, its members would rather join PAS than any PH party.

He said this was evident by the rejection of PH in Kelantan, where the pact lost the deposits of 47 of its candidates from the 59 parliamentary and state seats contested in the general election.

And this, he said, was because of the state’s anti-DAP and anti-Dr Mahathir Mohamad stand.

“When PH announced Dr Mahathir as the candidate for prime minister, that is when the Kelantan people rejected PH. The Kelantanese have never liked Dr Mahathir,” Jazlan said.

Citing events in the past, he said some former Umno members who had joined splinter party Semangat 46 chose to join PAS when their party was disbanded.

“The trust of the Kelantanese is only with two parties. If it is not Umno, it will be PAS. Even if Umno is disbanded, Pakatan should not hope to get Umno members.

“What happened after Semangat 46 was dissolved? Their members did not join Umno, a portion of them joined PAS,” he said.

The former deputy rural and regional development minister also said Umno would not make any backroom deal with PAS in Kelantan and would remain an opposition party.

“PKR has done 20 years of ‘reformasi’, we are only five months in. Let us remain as the opposition.

“We will admonish the state and federal government in the same way we have governed before this. We need to tell the people what we would do in any situation if we were the ruling party.” 

Meanwhile, Pasir Puteh Umno division chief Zawawi Othman said the party had not been shaken by the departure of senior leaders but was, in fact, strengthened by the support of the grassroots in this time of crisis.

“They were leaders who could not accept defeat. These leaders are known by many, so when news got out (of them quitting the party), it was sensationalised.

“But what actually happened was that the grassroots became even stronger,” he said, adding that Jazlan had visited all divisions in the state to explain the matter.

Zawawi added that PH would lose all its deposits in the state in the next general election as the Kelantanese were already fed up with the false promises of the new government.

“The cost of living has increased and the income of the villagers, like those selling vegetables, has dropped. The products they produce have also dropped.

“If an election were to take place today, they would lose not just 47 seats but all the deposits for all the seats they contest,” he said.

There are 45 state seats in Kelantan, of which PAS controls 37, followed by BN/Umno (7) and one independent (Mustapa). As for parliamentary seats, there are 14, of which PAS has nine and BN/Umno (4). The other seat belongs to Mustapa.

Mustapa, who was Umno’s top Kelantan leader, quit the party after 40 years on September 18, saying he had lost faith in the party. – October 23, 2018.