PERAK Umno has resolved to take back the three Parliament seats it lost after its MPs defected to Bersatu, said Saarani Mohamad.

“We will contest in Larut, Bagan Serai and Bukit Gantang,” said the Perak menteri besar during the debates at the 2020 Umno general assembly in PWTC today.

Saarani, who is the Perak Umno state chief, said that Umno could not accept Bersatu which has continued to pinch its members and leaders despite being in the same government.

“It is not right that when Bersatu set up its division in Larut, it took our members and leaders from the Larut division.

“Are there no more Malays for them to recruit?” said the Kota Tampan assemblyman.

He said that splinter party Bersatu was different from PAS.

“Although Umno and PAS have been rivals, we never have pinched members from each other,” said Saarani.

“But Bersatu has done that,” said the Umno leader who was appointed menteri besar after Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) ousted Bersatu menteri besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu through a confidence vote at the state assembly last December.

After the election in 2018, three Umno MPs – Larut, Bagan Serai and Bukit Gantang – quit Umno and joined Bersatu.

Following that, Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin was appointed home minister and Bersatu’s secretary-general, while Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali was appointed deputy health minister.

Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal is now the chairman for the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia. – March 28, 2021.