Despite being new in the political scene for two weeks, Parti Amanah Negara is making inroads with its membership drive, with the majority of the registered members coming from Kelantan.

Amanah's pro-tem chairperson Mohamad Sabu said he was surprised that of all the states, Kelantan is leading the membership drive with the PAS-led state registering more than 7,000 new members.

“This is followed with Johor with more than 5,000, Selangor more than 4,000, and Kedah with 3,000.

“In total 50,000 forms had been distributed and 30,000 had been processed and approved as of Sunday . This is despite the party is only about two weeks old,” he told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview.

He added more details would be revealed by the party secretary.

Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, was asked as to how the response been to Amanah's roadshows which had seen good attendances.

Amanah which is using the Workers Party as a vehicle, was launched on Aug 31.

Asked why Kelantan could have registered much interest, Mat Sabu said possibly there were many people there not satisfied with the present leadership.

He added that the party is targetting 100,000 members by year's end, and was quite confident of achieving it.

Own building

Mat Sabu said the party headquarters is in Selayang, but in Kedah, they have managed to get their own building where it rents a three-storey building from members who run medium-sized businesses.

He added that more people are joining Amanah not so much because of the leaders but due to present circumstances.

“I guess people are looking at the various problems the country are facing including 1MDB, the rising prices of goods, as a result of the Goods and Services Tax, the decline in value of the ringgit and others. They also want to see a change in politics.

“If we do not fulfill the rakyat's aspirations, then I am sure they will be dejected. But for a newly formed party, the response has been very good.

The Amanah chairperson said the party is open to non-Malays to join. “We have former PAS supporters club chairperson Hu Pang Chow ( photo ) and former Workers party secretary-general Gopalan K. Papachan,” he revealed.

He said the two are part of the pro-tem committee and shows the party is open to all.