Independent candidate Tan Sri Isa Samad speaks to reporters after submitting his nomination papers to contest the Port Dickson by-election September 29, 2018. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Umno members in Negri Sembilan will campaign for former division chief Tan Sri Isa Samad’s by-election run here against party orders.

According to The Malaysian Insight, the local party leaders said they wanted to repay Isa for his past service to them when he was the state’s mentri besar from 1982 to 2004.

The reported asserted that nearly half of Umno’s 53 branches in Negri Sembilan will campaign for Isa.

“Tonight, we are ‘taking off’ our Umno shirt. No Umno tonight. We are free to help our candidate, the independent candidate.

“When Umno boycotted the election, it means we are free (to help Isa),” one unnamed branch chief was quoted as saying.

He stressed that their efforts were purely to repay Isa, and not to defy Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN).

He also said they wanted to oppose PAS and PKR.

Another branch chief said he pledged his members’ support to Isa.

“Out of the 53 Umno branch chiefs in Port Dickson, between 23 and 25 are die-hard Isa supporters. Another 12 to 13 are still dithering, undecided and confused,” he said, but added that these would at least not hamper Isa’s bid.

One branch chief claimed he relinquished his post to openly campaign for Isa, whom he described as a long-serving leader.

“I have already sent my letter of resignation yesterday. It’s just not appropriate, as party members, to follow Tan Sri everywhere in his campaign trail and find ourselves in the newspapers.

“It’s better if I just give up the post, rather than be sacked later,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Isa’s son, Port Dickson Umno Youth chief Mohd Najib, is among those openly backing his campaign.

Isa resigned from Umno to contest the Port Dickson by-election as an independent after the party chose to sit out the poll.

The Port Dickson by-election will witness a seven-cornered fight including the PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS’s Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, and five Independent candidates, including Isa and Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the former political aide behind Sodomy II.

Polling day is on October 13, with the early voting on October 9.