JOHOR BARU, March 6 — Former Johor Lama assemblyman Rosleli Jahari has today announced that he has left Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and will be requesting to rejoin Umno.

Rosleli, who was not selected as a candidate to defend his seat, said that he has lost confidence in Bersatu, its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his administration.

"I will be requesting to rejoin Umno, which is my previous party, and will be assisting Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the Johor state election, especially in the Johor Lama seat.

"My duties with Bersatu are considered completed and done when Umno and BN took over the state administration (in 2020),” said Rosleli.

He made the announcement of leaving Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) component in a brief video clip that was uploaded on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Facebook page today.

In the video clip, Rosleli is seen seated next to Najib in what is believed to be during the latter’s statewide campaign trial for BN today.

The one-term elected representative was among three former Umno assemblymen that defected to Bersatu days after Pakatan Harapan (PH) secured the federal and state governments from BN in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.

All three claimed that they defected to the ruling coalition then to better care for their constituents’ welfare.

The other two are former Sedili assemblyman Rasman Ithnain, who was recently involved in an alleged sexual harassment case, and Endau assemblyman Alwiyah Talib.

Of the three, only Alwiyah has been retained by PN to defend her seat in the upcoming state election.

Even before nomination day on February 26, Bersatu has been affected by the party’s state and division leaders quitting the party citing loss of confidence in Muhyiddin’s leadership.

Among the higher-profile leaders who have left the party are former Johor Bersatu chief Mazlan Bujang and the state’s former exco and Larkin state seat incumbent Datuk Mohd Izhar Ahmad.