He is also expected to leave Umno before the end of his term as a senator at year end, the source said. Tengku Zafrul is currently serving a second term in the Dewan Negara and is minister of investment, industry and trade.

“Tengku Zafrul wants to take a short break before fully committing to PKR, but there has been a push from PKR to make him join right away after leaving Umno,” the source told FMT.

Separately, another source said there was a possibility of him joining the party after the end of the current parliamentary meeting. The current Dewan Rakyat meeting ends on March 6 and the Senate on March 25.

“Certain leaders within the party had instructed him to join the party immediately and perhaps contest in the party polls as well,” the source said. PKR will hold elections for its division and central committee leadership in April and May.

Tengku Zafrul is expected to join a division with an urban Malay voter base such as Ampang, Petaling Jaya, or Pandan. The MPs in all three constituencies are from PKR.

The MP for Pandan and PKR divisional chief is PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who is the economy minister. Lee Chean Chung and Rodziah Ismail are the MPs for Petaling Jaya and Ampang respectively.

Yesterday, Tengku Zafrul said he would decide on his future with Umno after discussing the matter with party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said that he would make an announcement on his future only after his discussion with Zahid, Bernama reported. He did not state when the discussion would be held.

His remarks on his political future yesterday came nearly two months after speculation arose that he was planning to join PKR in an apparent bid to become the next Selangor menteri besar. He has since denied being in talks over state-level positions.

Speculation was further fuelled after PKR president Anwar Ibrahim confirmed that talks were under way for Tengku Zafrul to join the party.