Umno information chief Annuar Musa has claimed that more Pakatan Harapan politicians will be joining Umno in the footsteps of former Selangor Menteri Besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib.
He said the announcements would be made in stages.
“I confirm there are Harapan members who will join Umno or return to Umno. The announcement will be made in stages, we just have to wait and see,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Annuar was responding to reports claiming that there could be Harapan politicians from Selangor jumping ship to Umno.
The Ketereh MP claimed that internal strife between Harapan parties and the absence of an agenda to develop the economy are the reasons that these politicians are interested in Umno and BN.
“Harapan does not want to help the people or develop the nation, they are just engaged in a power struggle and dabble in slander and lies,” he alleged.
According to Annuar, many of the slanderous claims by the opposition have been answered.
“The issue of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak being arrested if he goes to the United States is a lie, the 1MDB issue and the (RM2.6 billion) donation from a Saudi royalty have all been answered, and the people can see the opposition's dirty politics for themselves,” he said.
On Sunday, Najib announced that Muhammad had seen the light and returned to Umno after leaving the party to join PAS and later PKR.
The prime minister became the subject of ridicule because detractors claimed the former menteri besar was a spent political force, and therefore the hype surrounding Najib's press conference was unwarranted.
Speculation was rife that Najib would be announcing the dissolution of parliament, or that a top gun from the opposition had switched camps.
However, the press conference also ignited speculation that Najib had planned to reveal something bigger but which did not materialise.
Amanah Youth pointed out that it would be naive to believe that the prime minister would hold a press conference just to announce Muhammad's return.
Certain quarters claimed that it might be related to possible defections among opposition assemblypersons in Selangor, which could trigger a coup similar to the one in Perak in 2009.
However, PKR and PAS have dismissed this possibility.
