KUALA LUMPUR – PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that he will hold talks with Umno leaders prior to opening his party’s doors to former members of the Barisan Nasional (BN) linchpin.
Anwar, who is also prime minister and chairman of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, said that while he was aware that certain ex-Umno members had expressed interest in joining PKR, he will refer any application to Umno leadership beforehand.
“We take note that some former Umno members are keen to join us, but no decision on the matter has been reached yet.
“We will discuss (applications) with Umno leaders,” he said briefly during a press conference at PKR headquarters here today.
Last week, former Padang Besar Umno division chief Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said that many axed Umno members are seeking to join PKR, following a massive purge from the Malay nationalist party.
While the former deputy communications and multimedia minister had then expressed his intention to join PKR, it was recently reported that he has set his sights on the party’s fellow component Amanah.
On January 27, Umno undertook a purge of dissenters, expelling a total of 42 members with immediate effect, purportedly for contesting as an independent candidate or under a different party banner in the recent general election (GE15), and assisting rival parties during the polls.
High-profile former leaders who were sacked were ex-health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Umno chief Tan Sri Noh Omar. Those who received six-year suspensions include Sembrong MP and former defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and former Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan.
Meanwhile, Anwar said claims that Malay voters are not in favour of PH are “untrue”, based on studies conducted by PKR’s election department.
“Based on our analysis, the rumours that PH only received 19% of Malay votes is untrue. If we had only managed to secure 19% (of Malay votes), we wouldn’t have won the amount of seats we did in GE15,” he said.
He explained that PH had actually received 31% of overall Malay votes, with lower percentages recorded in Kelantan and Terengganu while higher numbers were seen in Selangor, Penang, the Federal Territories and Negri Sembilan. – The Vibes, February 6, 2023
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