Gombak MP Mohamed Azmin Ali expects the number of Umno MPs to fall further by the end of this month.

Speaking at a ‘Pidato Malaysia Baru’ event in conjunction with the PKR election in Kuala Terengganu last night, he said that of the 49 Umno MPs, currently, only "three or four would be left".

"PKR today is the largest bloc in parliament. PKR has 51 members of Parliament, DAP has 42 members of Parliament, Umno has 49, and tomorrow maybe 40, then 20 people and three or four at the end of this month", he said.

Azmin, who is also Economic Affairs minister, when met by the media after the programme, explained that the statement was based on his assessment of the recently-concluded Umno general assembly which seemed weak without a firm stand in determining the party's direction.

In calling PKR members to support him in the PKR election this Friday in Terengganu, Azmin, who is defending his deputy president post, said that if given the mandate, he would give full attention in looking after the welfare of the people and drawing up the strategy of capturing the state in the 15th general election.

On the action of his challenger, Rafizi Ramli, who occasionally hurled various allegations to question his loyalty to PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim, Azmin said Rafizi must scrutinise how he (Azmin) fought and underwent various ordeals since 1998 in defending Anwar.

Meanwhile, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who is vying for the party vice-president's post, said PKR members should choose the party's top leadership based on their commitment to unite its members, not disunite them based on personal interests.

- Bernama