KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's opposition on Thursday shrugged off a senior member's defection to the ruling party, which came as a rare victory for embattled Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.Ezam Mohamad Nor, a former member of opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim's Keadilan party, was welcomed back into the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) on Wednesday.
He had left the party in 1999 after the sacking of Anwar, a one-time deputy premier who spent six years in jail on corruption and sex charges before being freed and storming back onto the political scene.
Ezam, who had served as Anwar's political secretary, quit Keadilan last year reputedly after a power struggle with another top party official.
"Ezam's decision will have little impact on the party. We are on an upward trend now. We have had people who left the party in hard times and we survived," said Keadilan information chief Tian Chua.
"I suppose we must thank him for joining UMNO only after the general election. At any other time it might have had some impact but now it will not stop our momentum," he told AFP.
The three-party opposition alliance dealt a severe blow to the UMNO-led coalition in March 8 general elections, seizing control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats in an unprecedented result.
Anwar has said he is confident of attracting enough defecting lawmakers to topple Abdullah's administration, which has been thrown into crisis by the election drubbing.
"There have been even worse betrayals. I don't think this will affect Anwar that much ... UMNO is a sinking boat," Chua said.
Ezam's return to UMNO was splashed in the government-linked media Thursday, with prominent photographs of him handing his membership registration form to Abdullah.
"No conditions are attached to Ezam's readmission. He does not get any special treatment or privileges. He has also not sought any position. He just wants to serve and struggle for the party," Abdullah reportedly said. - AFP/ir
Channel NewsAsia
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