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Wednesday, 23 June 2010

PKR MPs claim Asri will not join Umno

(The Malaysian Insider) With questions raised over the possibility of Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin’s impending entry into Umno, PKR lawmakers moved today to claim that the influential ex-Perlis mufti would not join their political foe.

Wanita PKR chief Zuraida Kamaruddin claimed that she spoke with Mohd Asri at 10am today and the latter had assured her that he would not join Umno.

“I am confident of this for he is a wise person and he would make a calculated move. At this point, we are confident that he will not be with Umno,” the Ampang MP told reporters in Parliament today.

Another PKR MP, Yusmadi Yusoff, said the party would welcome Mohd Asri into the party or into any party of his choice in the Pakatan Rakyat.

“I would welcome him to join us for he has high potential for the future of the country. I would invite him to join us on our reform agenda,” he said.

He pointed out that he went to school with Mohd Asri and said the Muslim scholar was a reformist.

“However, we are not desperate like Umno. We give open opportunities to everyone,” he said.

Umno executive secretary Datuk Abdul Rauf Yusoh revealed over the weekend that the influential Islamic thinker was likely to lead a group of ulama into the Barisan Nasional (BN) Malay party. This subsequently triggered a groundswell among his fellow Islamic scholars, friends and politicians who urged him against making the move.

Umno is hoping to score a major political coup in enticing Mohd Asri into the Malay party.

The courtship of the popular cleric suggests that Umno hopes to ride on the respected Islamic scholar’s influence among both liberal and conservative Muslims and unite Malay voters behind the BN party.

He is expected to hand over his application form to join Umno to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after the party’s supreme council meeting on Friday.

Mohd Asri, however, has refused to confirm the matter, saying that he had not made a final decision yet.

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