LARKIN incumbent Izhar Ahmad today quit Bersatu and said he would be joining Umno.

He told a press conference he would not be defending the state seat he won in 2018 when state elections are held soon but would be supporting Barisan Nasional’s (BN) campaign.

“It was not easy to make this decision but I feel Bersatu has lost its direction.

“The president (Muhyiddin Yassin) has failed to bring the party to another level and has not improved the party,” Izhar was reported saying by various media at a press conference in Johor Baru today.

“BN can make things right. It is the only coalition that can unite people under one banner,” he added, urging Larkin voters to support the Umno-led coalition.

He was the state investment, cooperatives, entrepreneurship development and human resources committee chairman.

Prior to Izhar’s resignation, former Johor Bersatu chief and former state executive councillor Mazlan Bujang also left the party last week.

Mazlan, who was state education, information, heritage and culture committee chairman before the Johor assembly was dissolved last Saturday, said he is an independent assemblyman who supports BN.

Johor will go to the polls following the dissolution of the legislative assembly. The Election Commission will meet on February 9 to set a date.

The election is being called for the sake of “political stability”, according to Umno, which heads the state government by a one-seat majority.

In 2019, Izhar was speculated to leave Bersatu and become an independent assemblyman but he denied such claims at the time.

Izhar today said he did not know if more Bersatu assemblymen would quit the party.

“This is my own decision. Like Mazlan, I decided on my own,” he said.

Mazlan, when announcing his departure from Bersatu last week, said that more members of his Tebrau division would also be quitting. – January 29, 2022.