Amanah can capture Kelantan and Terengganu in next election, says Mat Sabu

Amanah President Mat Sabu (centre) receives the new Amanah newspaper team jersey at the party's convention, along with Mohd Anuar Mohd Tahir (R) and Khalid Abdul Samad (L).

IPOH: Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) is confident of capturing Kelantan and Terengganu in the next general election, says Mohamad Sabu.

The Amanah's president said this was because more people, especially Malays, had been joining the party.

"For instance, lately some 700 applications were received from a village in Kelantan.

"The best part of it is that the village has only about 200 people.

"So this shows all their relatives were also roped in to join Amanah," he said in his winding-up speech at the party's national convention here.

Mohamad, who is popularly known as Mat Sabu, said Amanah was slowly gaining support from the Malays after they began to learn about the party's struggles.

On whether Amanah will accept former Umno members, Mohamad said their applications will be scrutinised case by case.

"We must have an open attitude in accepting members. Don't worry, we have mechanisms to control them. They will need to follow Amanah's constitution, rules and regulations.

"The members who join us must support the party's struggles. For sure, it's not to defend those involved in corruption," he added.

When asked by reporters later if any former Umno MPs had applied to join the party, he said, "So far, we don't have applications from them, but several former Umno division leaders have shown interest."

He also said that the strength of the Pakatan Harapan coalition was important to ensure they stay as the ruling government.

"If Amanah is on its own, we are not sure, if we will be able to win even one seat in the elections.

"Thus we must stay strong in the coalition to ensure the hopes of the people are achieved," he added.