He said Umno MPs will automatically lose their membership if they join a coalition not affiliated with the party.

He said termination of membership will invoke the anti-hopping law allowing the seat to be declared vacant and an election to be held.

“Many, including political analysts, academics, and the opposition, may not realise that the Umno constitution was amended during a special general assembly on Jan 13, 2023,” he said in a Facebook post.

He said termination of membership will invoke the anti-hopping law provision for the seat to be declared vacant and an election to be held.

The anti-hopping law says a seat will be declared vacant if an MP resigns as a member of the political party from which he was elected, or “ceases to be” a member. The clause does not apply to those expelled from the party.

His comments come in the wake of a claim by PAS election director Sanusi Nor that it is not wrong for the opposition to take advantage of loopholes in the anti-hopping law to attract government MPs to support Perikatan Nasional.

Asyraf said every Umno member elected as an MP is bonded to the party for a sum of RM100 million through a signed agreement and oath.

“Any breach will obligate them to pay RM100 million to the party,” he said.

Asyraf said the amendment to Umno’s constitution was a lesson learned from the political instability resulting from the 2018 general election.

Separately, Fadzmel Fadzil, press secretary to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said the party is different from Bersatu, which did not amend its constitution and has no agreement between their MPs and the party during the nomination process.

Last Friday, Zahid said any decision to shift support for the prime minister must be made “en bloc”.