KUCHING — The “Rumah Bangsa” initiative by UMNO is seen as an extraordinary approach to strengthen the party in the Peninsular and Sabah, said UMNO Supreme Council Member Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Maslan.
He said the effort was also aimed at ensuring UMNO remained relevant not only during the election season but at all times.
Ahmad, who is also Deputy Minister of Works, said a special committee had been established to manage applications, including from leaders who had been sacked or left the party, to rejoin UMNO.
“Our approach is to ‘forgive and forget’. When other parties took action to sack members, we opened the door to welcome them back,” he said when met at the Breaking of Fast Ceremony with the Media and the Public Works Department (JKR) and the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Sarawak here today.
The Pontian MP said several figures had shown interest in rejoining UMNO and further announcements would be made from time to time.
Meanwhile, UMNO President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid previously said the “Rumah Bangsa” initiative was open to all without imposing any conditions, including former UMNO leaders.
Two former senior UMNO leaders Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaludin have reportedly submitted an application letter to rejoin the party, which was confirmed by UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dasuki via a post on Facebook yesterday.
— BERNAMA
