He said he made his decision after taking into account the voices of the people of Kota Marudu, the parliamentary constituency he hopes to contest in the general election.

“I made the decision to leave Bersatu because I saw the situation in Kota Marudu and the aspirations of the people there,” he said.

He was believed to have met KDM president Peter Anthony yesterday and filled up a membership form.

Wetrom was appointed today as KDM deputy president for the Muslim quota, as well as the party’s candidate for the Kota Marudu seat.

A businessman, Liaw Kit Siong, was selected as KDM’s candidate in the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat.

Peter said the party had not decided on the number of seats it would contest.

The party will use its rafflesia flower logo for the parliamentary elections.

“This is our first appearance, we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

He said the party’s relations with the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government, led by Hajiji Noor, were still friendly.

“Hajiji Noor is a leader who has no equal,” he said. “It is only at the party level that we have decided to contest as this is a parliamentary election, at the state level, we will still support GRS,” he said.