PETALING JAYA: After months of speculation, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (pic) has finally resigned from Umno and will be joining PKR.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said he has submitted his resignation letter as an Umno supreme council member, Kota Raja division leader and a party member to the party’s top leadership.
“This is not an easy decision.
“Before making this decision, I had sought the advice and views of my friends, from within and outside the party, as well as the party president himself,” he said last night.
Tengku Zafrul said he had taken some time to think through this decision, as he had been an Umno member since 1997.
“At the end, this decision was made after rationalising and taking into account various factors, especially regarding compatibility and suitability,” he said.
The minister, whose term as senator ends in December, also thanked everyone who had supported him during his time in Umno.
Tengku Zafrul had quit as Selangor Umno treasurer in April last year and speculation has been rife since late last year that he would leave the party to join PKR.
There was also talk that he was being lined up to be the next Selangor mentri besar.
Tengku Zafrul had denied such talk then but in February, he said he would decide on his future with Umno after discussing the matter with party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Yesterday, Tengku Zafrul said he will now begin the application process of being a PKR member.
“I have expressed intentions to the PKR president and secretary-general to join the party.
“I will follow the usual application process to become a PKR member,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is PKR president while Dr Fuziah Salleh is the secretary-general.
Fuziah had earlier said there was no special pathway to join the party and that anyone who wishes to join PKR – including Tengku Zafrul – must follow the standard procedure.
Tengku Zafrul’s departure from Umno comes just days after two PKR stalwarts – Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad – had resigned as Economy Minister and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister, respectively.
Rafizi had lost his deputy presidency in the PKR party elections while Nik Nazmi lost his position as vice-president.
