KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — Perkasa today asked its members not to quit from Umno in retaliation to those from the Malay nationalist party who left the group over its support for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Citizens’ Declaration.
Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said such retaliation would only trigger further conflict within the group, which he said was home to supporters of both Dr Mahathir and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Some Perkasa members in Pengkalan Chepa and Kapar resigned after the group came out in support of the Citizens’ Declaration, prompting other Perkasa members to threaten to quit from Umno.
“We do not encourage that, we advise them from doing so to avoid breaking Perkasa,” Syed Hassan said in a press conference today.
He also urged those adamant on leaving Umno to do so without fanfare or publicity.
Dr Mahathir together with other Barisan Nasional veterans, opposition leaders and human rights activists, recently banded together in a “Save Malaysia” movement by signing a Citizens’ Declaration that called for Najib’s removal.
The movement is the latest platform of the former prime minister’s long-running campaign to remove Najib from office.
