Tok Mat brushes off claim Umno has lost 2 million members

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan has refuted Annuar Musa's claims that two million members had left the party.

He also reminded Annuar, who was the former Umno information chief, to be careful when making any statements about Umno even though it was within his rights to do so.

"I don't know where he got the numbers from. I can also claim that there are two million people who joined Umno. People can think and make up their minds.

"Indeed there are members who have quit the party, some followed (Annuar) and some were disappointed (with the Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Harapan collaboration) but the number is not that big," Mohamad, who is also the Barisan Nasional deputy chairman said to reporters after attending a dinner hosted by the Terengganu Umno liaison committee in Kuala Terengganu last night.

Recently, Annuar who is now a PAS member, when speaking at the Perikatan Nasional rally in Senawang, Negeri Sembilan, claimed that Umno had lost more than two million supporters even before the 15th general election.

Meanwhile, when asked about preparations for the upcoming state elections, Mohamad is confident that victory in states under the administration of the coalition government can be maintained.

"The issue now is to make sure that Barisan Nasional can regain its footing and also if possible, to win in states like Terengganu and Kedah.

"There is a chance to win, on the condition that we work hard, we don't fight with each other and enter the polls with the right strategy... choose a candidate who can win and field a candidate whose credibility cannot be questioned," he said.

The six states involved in the state elections are Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.