Sabah Umno chairperson Bung Moktar Radin claims that those state Umno elected representatives who left Umno to become independents are now having a change of mind.

According to The Star the Kinabatangan MP said several of them who defected last week had told him about returning to the Umno fold.

He claimed yesterday that the representatives were doubtful that Bersatu will expand to Sabah.

This follows a statement by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that his party would not open a branch in the state.

Bung Moktar declined to name the disillusioned defectors, except to say that they included division leaders.

Meanwhile, he said that party-hopping among elected representatives will only cause confusion among the voters who gave them their mandate to lead, Bernama reports.

As such, he said an anti-party hopping law should be created to maintain high level of morale and integrity of the elected representatives.

“We want elected representatives who are truly responsible for their constituents, for their constituencies and the country.

"It is time for the Pakatan Harapan government to fulfil the people’s aspiration by tabling a motion to have such a law at the Dewan Rakyat.

“If not, party-hopping will continue becoming a trend, enabling those who lost in election to simply join the winning party and take advantage of other people’s suffering,” he said when appearing as a guest in Bernama News Channel’s (BNC) 'Ruang Bicara’ programme last night.

Bung Moktar said he would stay loyal to the party and would continue helping the top leadership to strengthen Umno.

Another guest, associate professor Faisal S Hazis of Institute of Malaysian and International Studies , Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said exodus of leaders and members of a political party was not a new thing as there already exists a game of politics of patronage which had been quite rampant in any transition of power.

Malaysia needs to have a law to discipline its politicians, but it should take into account Article 10 (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution which stated that all citizens have the right to form associations, he added.