Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has taken a swipe at Umno saying it is now a party which emphasises on getting contracts and shares.

Anwar ( below ), speaking to reporters after attending his sodomy trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today said the party has changed.

NONE "The party is not 64 but 22 years old. The new Umno is weak and has lost its power and influence," he said when asked for his comments on Umno’s 64 th anniversary celebrations today.

"It has deviated from its original struggle and it is now a party for those wanting shares and contracts," he said.

Umno, formed on May 11, 1946, was a conglomerate of Malay organisations formed at that time to fight the British policy of establishing the Malayan Union.

Founded by Onn Jaafar, the Malay nationalist party continued to lead the country after independence through six presidents comprising Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Abdul Razak Hussein, Hussein Onn, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and he current Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The party was once de-registered following a court case after its 1988 party elections and subsequently a ‘new’ Umno - Umno Baru - was formed.

Anwar, who is also the Permatang Pauh MP, was once Umno deputy president during the reign of Mahathir.

Kalabakan MP's position

To a question on claimed defection of PKR members, Anwar, who is the de facto PKR leader, said such allegations were false and the work of the Umno-controlled media.

NONE "These allegations are made when there is a by-election and they will say thousands are leaving the party.

PKR remains strong," he said, adding that allegations to the contrary were not a problem.

Anwar, when asked over the possibility of Umno’s Kalabakan member of Parliament in Sabah resigning from his seat, said he had not heard anything over the matter.

"I think Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Salleh ( right ) has responded to the allegations made by Bayan Baru MP (Zahrain Hashim). He said Bayan Baru's stomach is already full following his defection," he said.

"Since then Zahrain has not responded. I was there when such allegations were made in Parliament. I cannot comment on this issue although I have known Ghapur for some time," he said.

Anwar was responding to recent reports that Ghapur had tendered his resignation as MP to the Parliament speaker as a matter of principle following aspersions cast on his loyalty by . Zahrain.

Federal power bid

Previously in Parliament, Zahrain had alleged that Ghapur was one of those elected MPs who wanted to join Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat during their aborted Sept 16, 2008 bid for federal power.

Latest developments indicate that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has step in and persuaded Ghapur to retract his resignation letter.