State chief Kamarudin Nor claimed only a small group had left Bersatu, and that the Jeli division was not affected by their departure.

He also claimed that the group which had announced their exit from Bersatu yesterday were supporters of Jeli MP Zahari Kechik, who was formerly of Bersatu but declared support for the unity government.

“It’s a waste of time entertaining their gimmick. Even their press conference was held at the Jeli MP’s office,” he told FMT.

“They can claim that over 1,000 have left, but there weren’t that many at the press conference. Our Jeli division has 60 registered branches – none of them has been dissolved.

“Division chiefs don’t have the authority to dissolve a branch. That power lies in the hands of the Bersatu Supreme Council, which is chaired by the party president,” said the assemblyman for Air Lanas, which is in the Jeli parliamentary constituency.

Yesterday, a group of Bersatu members in Jeli claimed that over 1,000 of them had quit the party, including eight Bersatu branch leaders and 18 Wanita branch heads.

A spokesman for the group, Rodzi Muhammad, said they were disappointed with Bersatu’s “weak” state, which he claimed had forced the party to import a PAS candidate for the Nenggiri polls.

This came a week after 480 members from Gua Musang Bersatu announced that they were joining Umno.