Ex-Umno members wanting to rejoin party must be vetted - Zahid

JOHOR POLLS | Former Umno members who want to rejoin the party will have to undergo several stages of vetting, said its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said he respects anyone who wishes to join Umno but they have to go through due process as per Umno's rules and constitution.

"Rosleli Jahari is an old friend of mine, since when I was in Umno Youth. Alhamdulillah, he has the awareness to return to the fold and I see him also coming down to help our candidates (in the Johor state election)," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a lunch with party members from the Kempas state constituency today.

He said this when asked to comment on the announcement by Rosleli, the former Bersatu assemblyperson for the Johor Lama state constituency, that he was leaving the party and wanted to rejoin Umno.

Zahid said Umno welcomed the intention of Rosleli and also former Bersatu Mersing division chief Laili Yusof wanting to rejoin Umno.

“I am confident there are more Bersatu members throughout Johor and Malaysia who wish to return to Umno, Umno's doors will always be open.

“Even though we know we have been hurt, but I hope my friends in Umno are also open-minded on this,” he said.

He added that he hoped the former members' attitude and way of thinking would change and not be "a thorn in the flesh" again in Umno.

Reviving tourism

Earlier, Zahid said the government’s decision to reopen the country’s borders is important to revive the tourism sector and inflow of foreign direct investment.

He said this when met after a "meet-and-greet” session with voters from the Kota Iskandar state constituency at the party's Iskandar Puteri Parliamentary Operations Room, Gelang Patah.

Also present at the session was BN candidate for the Kota Iskandar state constituency Pandak Ahmad and Lim Soon Hai, the candidate for the Skudai seat.

Zahid, who is also the BN chairperson, said the tourism sector is the third most important economic sector for the nation.

"Tourism infrastructure in our country is among the best in the Asean region and it has tourism products that in my opinion can attract (foreign) tourists," he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the country's borders will be reopened from April 1.

The prime minister said the decision was in line with Malaysia's plans to transition to the endemic phase of Covid-19 and was expected to revive the country's economy, especially the tourism industry which was badly affected by the pandemic.

‘Lack of confidence’ in winning Johor polls

Meanwhile, Zahid, in his speech at the earlier event, said the selection of Hasni Mohammad as the Johor menteri besar candidate if BN wins the state election on Saturday (March 12) was a decision of the party as a whole and not by any one individual.

"My decision was as a democrat and it was not a personal decision, it was a party decision.

“We brought (the matter) to Umno's supreme council, state liaison committee and the party's political bureau because Datuk Hasni has the best track record,” he said.

He also said the other parties in the fray that have yet to announce their respective menteri besar candidates only showed their lack of confidence in winning the election.

In a statement, Zahid also said Bersatu's claim he wanted to nominate Batu Pahat Umno division chief Mohd Puad Zarkashi as the menteri besar candidate was just 'cheap propaganda' to cover up Bersatu’s failure to provide the name of its own candidate.

- Bernama