KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- Umno does not have to invite former opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) to join the party as it has always adopted an open attitude to those who are keen to join the party, said Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
"Umno has never closed its door to anyone even if they are from the other parties. If they want to join us, it's not a problem to us. We don't have to invite them because they know that the door is never closed if they want to join," said Muhyiddin, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister.
He said this at a media conference after opening the 49th Session of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia Language Council (MABBIM) at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), here on Tuesday.
Asked whether Umno would invite the former opposition MPs to join the party, he said it was up to these MPs whether to join Umno or otherwise because Umno always respected their views and stand.
"(They) don't want to be accused later that they were persuaded by Umno leaders. They have their own stand and we respect their views and stand," he said.
Muhyiddin said all the disclosures and statements made by them on the actual attitude of the party which could not implement what they were fighting for gave a strong signal to the people to evaluate the actual cause of the opposition.
"The leaders who declared that they had left the party had made many statements on the weaknesses of the party, contradictions which they see as inappropriate to their cause," he said.
Since last month, several MPs from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) had left the party as they were disappointed with the leadership and actual cause of the party. The MPs concerned were Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim (Bayan Baru), followed by Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng and Bagan Serai MP Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri while on Saturday, Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Noordin was expelled from the party.
Yesterday, Pas vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar said it was inappropriate for the party to accept Zulkifli following his sacking by the PKR as it was not in line with the spirit of consensus among the parties in the opposition pact.
