Anifah Aman, Mustapa Mohamad quits Umno

• FORMER foreign affairs minister Anifah Aman has quit Umno, a day after party Supreme Council member Mustapa Mohamed made his exit. Anifah, confirmed his departure with The Malaysian Insight.
• “I made my decision a few days ago. I don’t know when my secretary will send my letter to Umno headquarters. But I confirm I have quit,” he said.
• Other sources close to the Kimanis MP confirmed he has submitted his resignation letter to party secretary-general Annuar Musa.
• Anifah had twice threatened to leave Umno before and his decision to do so now comes after Barisan Nasional lost federal power in the 9 May 18 polls.
• Meanwhile, Mustapa Mohamad has also quit Umno saying that he has lost faith in the party and its ability to rejuvenate and win back the support of the public.
• The Jeli legislator was returned to the Umno Supreme Council with the highest number of votes in the party’s polls in Jun 18.
• Mustapa said he believed Umno must be inclusive and moderate, but the party was not going in this direction.
• However, the former international trade and industry minister did not say if he will be joining any of the parties that make up the Pakatan Harapan alliance.
• Mustapa’s and Anifah’s departure now leaves Umno with 49 lawmakers and BN as a whole, just 52 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
• Anifah’s first threat to leave Umno was after the 2008 general election, when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister. Anifah had questioned Abdullah as to why Sabah lawmakers were not given minister posts in the cabinet even though the state had contributed significantly to BN’s electoral victory.
• He then threatened to leave again in Mar 18 to pressure former prime minister Najib Razak over the return of Sabah’s special rights.
• With Anifah gone, Umno’s MPs in Sabah are reduced to just 6, in Kinabatangan, Labuan, Kudat, Sipitang, Beaufort, Beluran and Libaran.
• Mustapa and Anifah are to date the most prominent of Umno members who have left the former ruling Malay party in the wake of its loss of federal power in the May 9 polls.
• They join others, who left the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin party that has now lost a total of 5 MPs and 13 assemblymen in several states.
• Some have since joined Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties or government-friendly parties while others have gone independent, choosing to distance themselves from a party they no longer believed in.

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