JOHOR BARU, Oct 24 — Former Johor Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief Norul Hazarul Abu Samah, who was embroiled in an open spat between Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and the Johor palace about three years ago, will be rejoining Umno soon.

The businessman will return to his former Labis Umno division in an effort to support Barisan Nasional’s (BN) campaign in the parliament for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

"I have decided to return to Labis Umno where I started my political journey and will rejoin as an ordinary member to assist my old friends there. I have already met with the Labis Umno division chief Datuk Mohd Azahar Ibrahim as well as MCA’s Datuk Chua Tee Yong who was the previous MP there.

"Both leaders have welcomed me back in an effort to wrest Labis for BN in GE15,” said Norul Hazarul when contacted by Malay Mail.

Yesterday on his Facebook page, Norul Hazarul, popularly called Aloy by friends, posted his visit to the Labis Umno division.

The post had suggested the possibility of his return to the Malay nationalist party, which he left to join Bersatu back in 2016.

The 40-year-old, who also hails from Labis, was previously touted as a strong Bersatu youth leader after the 2018 national polls where Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over both the southern state and federal government.

However, Norul Hazarul was suspended from his post as the state’s Bersatu Youth chief in 2019 for supporting the Johor government over its decision to maintain the definition of youths as those aged under 40.

At that time, the state’s decision went against the newly amended federal definition for youths as those under 30, as pushed for by Syed Saddiq, the then youth and sports minister.

Norul Hazarul, who was described as having an uneasy relationship with Syed Saddiq, later made the decision to quit Bersatu and active politics.

Labis, meanwhile, had been considered a BN-MCA vote bank since 1986. It was won twice by Chua representing MCA at the 2008 and 2013 national polls.

In the previous 2018 polls, Chua was defeated by DAP’s Pang Hok Liong with a slim majority of 3,408 votes.