Bagan Serai MP Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali has quit Umno and thrown his support behind Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as well as both the state and federal Pakatan Harapan governments.

"From this moment on, I have left Umno and BN, and declare my support for Mahathir," Azmi said at press conference in his constituency, which was aired live by Sinar Harian.

He added that he would be an independent MP for now, but that he planned to join Bersatu. 

His exit from Umno leaves the party with 53 parliament seats, and BN with 56 overall.

Noor Azmi had won Bagan Serai with the closest of majorities, polling just 172 votes more than his PAS rival Rohaya Bakar. 

Asked if he had quit the party because he was disappointed with the general election result, Azmi said he has always been an outcast in Umno.

"In my five years as MP, I have never been accepted by the division members," he said, explaining that he is just a regular member and that his bid to hold a division post was rejected.

He claimed that in the run-up to the polls, there had been a concerted effort by Bagan Serai Umno to sabotage his candidacy.

Moving to serve the people

However, Noor Azmi repeatedly stressed that his move to back Harapan is so that he can serve the people better.

"You can ask the people of Bagan Serai. I am not YB Datuk Dr Azmi. 

"I am Dr Azmi, I circumcised your sons and grandsons... My clinic here has been open for close to 27 years."

Noor Azmi also hoped that by backing Harapan, the government would help Bagan Serai in turn.

"Without power and solid allocations, we can't help the people," he said.

According to Noor Azmi, the pressing issues in Bagan Serai concern education, agriculture, and socioeconomics, as well as the rural constituency's water infrastructure.