However, he said the party would discuss and scrutinise their applications thoroughly first before accepting these former leaders and members into its fold.

“We will discuss and make decisions together with other component parties in the Pakatan Harapan (PH),” he told reporters at the Amanah National Convention 2018 here today.

Mohamad, who is also defence minister, said the matter would be brought up for discussion during the convention if there was any motion on this from delegates.

Umno has been facing a crisis after its leaders, including elected representatives, announced they were quitting the party to become independents, while others joined the component parties in PH.

Two days ago, almost all members of the Sabah Umno liaison committee, including its chairman Hajiji Mohd Noor, announced they were leaving the party.

On Dec 2, former Gerakan vice-president Liew Yun Fah and more than 1,000 party members from the Tawau and Kalabakan parliamentary constituencies left the party and joined Amanah.

Today, former Gerakan central committee member Loo Yeng Peng joined Amanah.

Loo, who was an MP for Puchong from 2004 to 2008, said he joined Amanah after looking at various aspects of the party, especially its mission, objectives and direction.