Saarani, who is also the Perak menteri besar, said there will be no compromise in this matter despite the political cooperation between Umno and PPBM.

“The Larut, Bagan Serai and Bukit Gantang parliamentary seats, as well as the Tualang Sekah and Sungai Manik state seats, were originally won by Umno.

“There is no compromise on this matter. Return the seats to Umno because we still have more members who are loyal to the party to replace those who betrayed us,” he said when officiating Umno’s Larut division meeting here today.

The MPs for Larut, Bagan Serai and Bukit Gantang are current Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali and Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz respectively.

Meanwhile, the Tualang Sekah and Sungai Manik assemblymen are Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi and Zainol Fadzi Paharudin. The five elected representatives left Umno in 2018 following Barisan Nasional’s fall in the elections.

Saarani, who is acting Larut Umno chief, said Umno needs to have a strong stand on its rights and position, although negotiations over the distribution of seats for the next polls have not been finalised yet.

He said Umno was not hungry for power and positions but maintained that it deserved respect as it was the party with the most number of seats among component parties in the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

“Taking a lesson from the episode of betrayal that happened in GE14 and the cheating that happened during the recent Sabah state elections, Umno deserves to prudently organise what to do next.

“Umno must be careful in identifying who are its friends and who are its foes,” he added.