According to a well-placed source, Anifah has submitted his letter of resignation to Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa.

It is not clear yet why Anifah, the Kimanis MP, is resigning from Umno or whether he is joining another party.

Earlier this year, Anifah together with Umno’s Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin had remained seated in the Dewan Rakyat while other opposition MPs staged a walk-out in protest after Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof was sworn in as speaker for the 14th Parliament.

FMT’s efforts to contact Anifah have been unsuccessful.

Yesterday, Mustapa, who had been with Umno for some 40 years, quit the party, saying its direction was not in line with his principles.

Umno won 54 parliamentary seats in the 14th general election.

Since then, five MPs have quit the party: Anifah, Jeli MP Mustapa, Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali.