Khairy Jamaluddin said today he was not aware of the possibility that up to 40 Umno MPs are planning to hop into PPBM. — Picture by Ham Abu Bakar

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin said today he was not aware of the possibility that up to 40 Umno MPs are planning to hop into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), following in the footsteps of Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Speaking to the press today, the shadow finance minister said he does not even know where PPBM Supreme Council member Datuk A. Kadir Jasin got the figure in the first place.

“As far as I know there’s nothing. I don’t know where the number 40 came from.

“Maybe I was not involved and wasn’t invited,” said Khairy with a chuckle.

Touching on Mustapa’s PPBM membership, Khairy said it was the former’s personal decision to join a new party and he respected that decision.

“That was Tok Pa’s decision to join a new party. I’ve been with Tok Pa for a very long time and I respect him as a leader and I respect his decision to join a new party,” he said, using Mustapa’s moniker.

Mustapa, who is also Jeli MP, announced his membership at a special ceremony to welcome him into the party after the PPBM supreme council meeting last night.

When asked to comment about Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman’s statement that it is the end of Malay supremacy, Khairy said that the previous Barisan Nasional government had already been practicing that.

“We’ve always had shared prosperity among all races. Sharing the wealth equitably is not something new. I don’t understand why it became a polemic because it is something we’ve always tried to create.

“We don’t even speak of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’. For a long time we’ve spoken on Malay political leadership. No one spoke about ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ anymore,” he said, using the Malay name of the concept.