Bersatu Supreme Council member Faiz Na’aman maintained that he had no hard feelings against Saiful and respected him, but said his “existence” in the party was hardly felt by leaders and members.

He acknowledged that Saiful had his own reasons for quitting Bersatu less than two years after joining the Perikatan Nasional (PN) lynchpin in January 2021.

“There are some people who join political parties briefly for personal reasons. I don’t know his vision and expectations in politics.

“People always come and go in politics. Saiful is not really a big name in the political arena,” he told FMT.

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Faiz was asked if there was any concern that Saiful’s exit from the party could be an early sign of an exodus by other Bersatu members and even leaders in the run-up to the next general election (GE15).

Saiful, who in 2008 accused Anwar of sodomising him resulting in the Port Dickson MP being jailed in 2015, signed up as a Bersatu life member in the Bentong division in Pahang last year.

In the 2018 Port Dickson by-election, Saiful stood as an independent candidate. He was one of five candidates who challenged Anwar for the seat, which the opposition leader won by a 23,560-vote majority. Saiful obtained a meagre 82 votes, thus losing his deposit.

Saiful announced yesterday that he was quitting Bersatu, citing “personal reasons”. He added that he would be focusing on his career and family.