Former minister Nazri Aziz has no plans to leave Umno despite the exodus from the party that has been taking place since it lost in the May general election.

In saying this, Nazri explained that he owed it to his supporters and Umno members to remain with the party.

"I will never leave Umno... because Umno members and voters in Padang Rengas have supported me for the past 25 years.

"I cannot abandon them during these times because it would not be fair," Nazri told Malaysiakini today.

He was responding to viral messages circulated on social media about another 16 Umno members, including him, who would be following the footsteps of former international trade and industry minister Mustapa Mohamed and former foreign minister Anifah Aman in quitting the party.

Nazri also said he believed that the other names on the list would not quit either.

"I don't think there is any truth in them (quitting),” he said.

Umno-PAS to be blamed

However, he believes Umno’s recent cooperation with PAS was what drove away Mustapa and Anifah.

Mustapa (photo), fondly referred to as Tok Pa, had spent four decades of his political career fighting against PAS, Nazri said.

"So for the last 40 years, he has been fighting PAS and today you want to sit with PAS as a good friend - it is too difficult for Tok Pa," he said.

Meanwhile, he said Anifah is from Sabah and the nature of politics there differs from Peninsula Malaysia.

"Sabah is very liberal, you know. In their family, there are Muslims and non-Muslims.

"For us to identify ourselves with PAS is as if we do not care about other non-Muslim parties, so, of course Anifah would be very upset," Nazri said.

He added that the duo probably left Umno to drive home a point to the party’s leadership.

"I can understand Anifah and Tok Pa's decision because I don't think they want to leave Umno but they want this to be a wake-up call so that Umno leadership will take quick action, that's all," he said.

Mustapa had announced he was quitting the party last night.

He said he believed Umno must be inclusive and moderate but this was not the trajectory the party was taking for its revival.

The Jeli lawmaker had been elected to the Umno supreme council with the highest number of votes during the party election in June.

Anifah followed suit in announcing he was leaving the party earlier today.

He said his decision comes after Umno and BN had failed to deliver on promises made in relation to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Prior to the exit of Anifah and Mustapa, three other MPs also quit Umno – Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali also left the party.

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