ECONOMIC Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali told opposition MPs who met him at his residence last week to stay in Umno, said Gerik MP Hasbullah Osman.

“That’s what really happened. I still remember Azmin telling us not to jump parties. You can ask Azmin.

“We have never thought of jumping parties. I told people in Gerik that although there were two meetings, I have never thought of becoming an independent or joining Bersatu,” Hasbullah told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Hasbullah said confusion arose after some media outlets speculated that the BN MPs were attempting to cross the aisle and join Bersatu.

To date, 13 Umno MPs have joined Bersatu since the general election in 2018.

“We have to stay with Umno and I did not ask Azmin to join BN either, although I’m not sure if others have. But it doesn’t make sense for a government MP to join the opposition.

“We only sent our applications for allocations to him. We wanted to meet in Parliament, but there were too many of us.

“Hence, Azmin asked us to his house to meet over dinner,” said Hasbullah.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told media that the MPs met Azmin to talk about crossing over to Pakatan Harapan last week.

Dr Mahathir said Umno members have lost their direction and sought guidance from Azmin during the meeting.

“I asked Azmin what he discussed with them, he said the Umno members had lost their direction.

“(They) don’t know what to do, so they were asking if they should join another party or not.

“Some even made statements that they support my leadership,” Dr Mahathir said.

Azmin, however, has remained coy over the matter and has not explained the purpose of the meeting. – November 25, 2019.