MUSTAPA Mohamed and Anifah Aman are to date the most prominent of Umno members who have left the former ruling Malay party in the wake of its loss of federal power in the May 9 polls.

They join others, who left the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin party that has now lost a total of five MPs and 13  assemblymen in several states.

Some have since joined Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties or government-friendly parties while others have gone independent, choosing to distance themselves from a party they no longer believed in.

Here is the list of elected reps so far who have said goodbye to Umno over the past few months, post-GE14.

Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali

The Perak lawmaker, who quit Umno in late June, became the party’s first lawmaker to leave. He remains an independent, although he said he had plans to join Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Bersatu party.

Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal

Also a Perak MP, Syed Abu Hussin quit a few days after Noor Azmi in early July to become an independent.

He said he was quitting Umno to protest the way members of his team were treated in the party’s divisional election, despite delivering good results for BN in Bukit Gantang in GE14.

Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin

The former tourism and culture deputy minister quit in July after the Umno election saw former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi take over as party president.

Now an independent, the Malacca lawmaker said she was disappointed with Umno’s failure to elect at least 70% fresh faces to lead the party, after she had hoped the election would steer Umno in a “new direction”.

Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed

One of the most respected senior BN lawmakers and ministers, the Kelantan politician quit the party late yesterday, saying he had lost faith in its direction and ability to rejuvenate and win back public support.

His resignation came after the Umno leadership, led by president Zahid, attended the PAS muktamar in Terengganu over the weekend where the former rival parties talked about stronger cooperation.

Mustapa said he believed that Umno should become more moderate and inclusive, but the party is not heading in that direction.

Kimanis MP Anifah Aman

The former foreign minister from Sabah said today that he had decided to quit Umno several days ago. Anifah had twice threatened to leave Umno before this. He is expected to issue a statement on his resignation soon.

Mustapa and Anifah’s departures leave Umno with 49 MPs in Dewan Rakyat. In GE14, it had won 54 parliamentary seats.

Assemblymen:

Days after BN fell, Perak’s Sg Manik assemblyman Zainol Fadzi Paharuddin and Tualang Sekah assemblyman Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi declared their support for PH, helping the former opposition coalition form the Perak government.

The duo did not quit Umno but their support for PH led to their sacking. Nolee Ashilin is now an independent while Zainol Fadzi applied to join Bersatu.

PH only won 29 state seats against BN’s 25 and PAS’ three. With Nolee Ashilin and Zainol Fadzi’s support, PH had enough seats to form the new state government.

In Johor, Sedili rep Rasman Ithnain, Johor Lama rep Rosleli Jahari and Endau rep Alwiyah Talib also quit in May, soon after BN fell in Johor. They said they did it to ensure unity among the Malays and the people.

They expressed intention to join Bersatu but were sworn in as independent candidates the following month at the state legislative assembly.

In Sabah, Balung assemblyman Osman Jamal, Tanjung Batu assemblyman Hamisa Samad, Sebatik assemblyman Abdul Muis Picho, Pitas assemblyman Bolkiah Ismail, Kemabong assemblyman Jamawi Jaafar and Sugut assemblyman James Ratib left Umno on May 10.

Sabah also fell to Warisan, a party headed by former Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal, which is also friendly to the PH coalition.

The six reportedly said they wanted to support the Warisan-led government to ensure a stable administration for the good of the people.

Early last month, Sukau assemblyman Saddi Abdul Rahman became the seventh state Umno rep to quit the party, becoming an independent.

He said he would support any local party that fought for Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

In Perlis, Tambun Tulang assemblyman Ismail Kassim, who was once menteri besar candidate for the small northern state and brother of former minister Shahidan Kassim, quit in June.

He said he no longer has confidence in the Umno leadership, and was also keen on joining Bersatu, an Umno splinter party headed by Dr Mahathir. – September 19, 2018.