Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said his party is open to accepting opposition members who have repented their support of "kleptocratic leaders" under the previous government.

"Bersatu has no restrictions on the acceptance of former members of the opposition on the condition that they go through the vetting process and repent over their mistake in supporting kleptocratic leaders in the past.

"Bersatu is also not obliged to provide them with any positions," he said in a statement today.

However, he said those who were involved in graft will not be accepted into the party.

"If there are reasonable grounds, the Bersatu supreme council can reject the application to join the party.

"This includes involvement in corruption, abuse of power or being convicted of a criminal offence," he said.

Muhyiddin added that even if an individual is accepted into Bersatu, it does not mean that they would be free from prosecution over past offences.

The Pagoh MP's statement came amid an exodus of MPs from Umno.

Umno, which was the largest party with 54 MPs after the 14th general election, is now left with 38 elected representatives in the Dewan Rakyat, making it the third largest party after PKR and DAP.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had also revealed that MPs wanting to quit Umno had also met him about their intentions.

Umno's hold on power since independence was ended in the May 9 general election after then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak led the BN to defeat amid allegations that he looted billions from state fund 1MDB.

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