KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — Umno MPs, who quit the party to become independent lawmakers, should vacate their seats, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

The Umno president said having by-elections would be the responsible thing to do since they contested the seats in the 14th general election under Barisan Nasional (BN).

"We feel that Umno MPs, who left the party, contested on a BN ticket. They did not win the seats on their own,” he told a news conference here.

"If they are MPs with honour, they should quit and face by-elections,” Zahid added.

He claimed that the reason why the MPs left was because of "personal problems” and had nothing to do with losing faith in Umno.

Umno is now left with just 51 MPs — following the exit of Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati, Bukit Gantang MP Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, and Bagan Serai MP Datuk Noor Azmi Ghazali.