Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that many people are actually begging to return to the party, a day after former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir said that Umno division leaders from Kedah plan to quit the party.

"He (Mukhriz) said people are leaving, but those who were sacked also want to come back (to Umno)," Tengku Adnan said in a press conference at a Hari Raya Aidiladha event in Putrajaya today.

He added that he did not have a list of those who want to return with him, but could perhaps at a later date, provide their names.

Mukhriz's remark comes after Gelang Patah Umno permanent chairperson Baharom Abdul Ghani, and Kulai Umno deputy chief Tosrin Jarvanti, announced they were quitting the ruling party on Saturday.

"Baharom and the others, they were party members who were always controversial.

"Better they leave (the party) than become 'duri dalam daging' (thorns in the flesh)," Tengku Adnan, who is also the Federal Territories minister, said.

He added Umno members knew the party's direction and had the drive to achieve their goals. As such, he believed that the other Umno members would remain united with the party.

Proper forum

He also responded to a question on Umno Youth exco member Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen, who decried what he described as "selective" action after he was suspended for purportedly attempting to sabotage Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron.

"When we start taking action, people start saying they didn't do it but we have proof - VCDs, recordings.

"If you are not happy, you should not come out publicly. Bring it up in the (proper) forum and express your unhappiness (there).

"Don't go out and tarnish the party's image. That's why we took action (in the first place)," Tengku Adnan said.

Citing the example of sacked deputy chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin, he said that Muhyiddin accused them of not following proper procedures in sacking him, but Tengku Adnan insisted they did.

The disciplinary board had asked the Umno supreme council to decide Muhyiddin's fate because it was a high profile case, he said.

When the supreme council made their decision, Muhyiddin got angry instead, he said.

"And now he formed a new party because of revenge. Don't, please. I would like to advise, look at me. I've been in and out, in and out (of cabinet). I have never gone against the party," he said.

He never got angry, he explained, because the party's struggle was more important than individual wants.

"When we join a party and we want to put ourselves first, this becomes a problem," he said.

Muhyiddin, along with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and several others, had formed a splinter party called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

The new party was approved by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) last Thursday.