“To rejoin, they must pledge, ‘I hereby vow that I will not repeat the act of party-hopping’,” he said today, Bernama reported.

Johari said that while Umno welcomed the return of former members, the returnees must follow set procedures. Among them is they are to rejoin as ordinary members, even if they formerly held leadership posts before defecting.

Yesterday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the party received many applications from former members wanting to rejoin the party.

Zahid said the matter would be referred to the disciplinary board to decide on their membership.

Johari’s remarks today came after he opened the Bukit Gantang Umno division meeting in Taiping.

Reporters asked for his comment on the status of Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, formerly an Umno division deputy leader, who joined Bersatu in 2020.

Syed Hussin’s membership in Bersatu was terminated last month, along with five other MPs, after they declared support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Don’t squabble over election candidates

Earlier, when opening the divisional meeting, Johari said grassroots members should not squabble when it came to identifying election candidates, especially for the general election.

Infighting would only force the central leadership to decide on the candidates and there was a “huge possibility” they would pick the wrong candidates, he said.

Bickering at the grassroots level would also not augur well for the party. “How can the community support us?” he said.