Umno members who have left the party should be regarded as opposition members even though they had contributed to the party before.

Umno supreme council member Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the action of some former party members who were now cooperating with the opposition to bring down Umno should be seen as a challenge.

"No need to build nostalgic memories of them, they are now no different from the opposition, in fact during the last by-elections there were some of them who campaigned against Umno," he said after officially opening the delegates meeting of Lembah Pantai Umno division Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present were Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Mohd Razlan Rafii.

Earlier in his speech, Ismail Sabri who is also the rural and regional development minister reminded Umno members in Lembah Pantai not to only depend on the weaknesses of the opposition to win an election.

"We cannot take their challenge lightly, although they are now facing various issues, we also need to work hard to explain about our agenda to the people," he said.

- Bernama