Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has urged Beaufort MP Lajim Ukin to quit Umno if he no longer intends to remain in the party, instead of deliberately attempting to incur the wrath of the disciplinary board.

“If he no longer wants to be with the party, it is better for him to resign and not wait for action to be taken action against him by Umno’s disciplinary board,” he was quoted as saying in an Utusan Malaysia report today.

lajim ukin He was referring to recent speculations which have gone on since early last month that Lajim ( right ), who is also deputy housing and local government minister, would be defecting to the opposition.

Khairy said that Lajim should come clean on speculations that he will be leaving Umno as his statements and actions recently have given the impression that the claims were true, added the report.

“We respect him as a leader and an Umno supreme council member but his actions are out of line,” he was quoted as saying.

It was widely speculated on June 10 that Lajim was to appear alongside opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in Sabah to announce his defection to PKR.

Lajim later denied this after the appearance did not materialise as Anwar’s flight was delayed due to bad weather.

However, since then, he had resigned as Kerambai Kebatu Umno branch chief and made public that he will not defend his position as Beaufort Umno division chief despite remaining in the party.

Yesterday, Cheras Umno chief Syed Ali Alhabshee, in a scathing attack against Lajim, had described him as a ‘wolf in the henhouse’ and called on him to relinquish his position as a deputy minister.

In the latest development, Lajim is said to be forming the Sabah Reform Party (SRP) with fellow Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing who is also speculated preparing to defect from BN's Upko and had invited Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to its launching.