JOHOR BARU, March 9 — Umno is ready to accept former members who want to return to the Malay party, said its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Referring to reports that former members who joined Bersatu after the 2018 general election are now wishing to return, Ahmad Zahid said they would still be subject to the rules of the Umno constitution before their reacceptance into the fold.
“Not only those who have joined us, but also (Bersatu) leaders, as many know in Mersing, in Kota Tinggi, even in Johor Baru itself, and their members too who have started to return to the correct path (with Umno) are required to follow the rules and clauses enshrined in the Umno constitution,” he told reporters after a ceramah at Larkin Perdana flats here today.
Ahead of the Johor state election on Saturday, two incumbent Bersatu assemblymen — Mazlan Bujang (Puteri Wangsa) and Mohd Izhar Ahmad (Larkin) — announced their exit from the party and their return to Umno.
Several more are also rumoured to be joining the exodus, as they reportedly were unhappy about not being named as candidates for the state polls and also have lost faith in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership.
In his ceramah, Ahmad Zahid slammed Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) over their vindictive behaviour towards both Umno and himself, including slapping him with 87 corruption charges that he is currently on trial for.
He said the fact both governments did not last long showed that God was on their side, before singling out Muhyiddin — a former Johor Umno chief and mentri besar — as a failure because his poor management of the Covid-19 pandemic during his time as prime minister had made people suffer.
“No other countries declared an Emergency during Covid-19. People lost their jobs, lost their incomes, they couldn’t eat.
“An average of four people killed themselves every day during the lockdown. I don’t want to blame the deaths on him (Muhyiddin), but they died partly due to the failure of the government,” he told the crowd of about 100.
It should be noted, however, that contrary to Ahmad Zahid’s claims, Malaysia was not the only country to declare a state of Emergency in response to Covid-19 pandemic.
At least 79 countries across the world, including France, Spain, New Zealand and Japan, invoked a state of Emergency some time in the last two years to deal with Covid-19.
There are less than three days to go before polling day in Johor, which falls on Saturday.
Johor has 56 state constituencies, with more than 2.59 million voters who are eligible to cast their ballots this time. The Election Commission is targeting a 70 per cent voter turnout.
