(Bernama) - The move taken by certain individuals, including former top public officers, to pledge their support for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was probably aimed at getting a shortcut to become the opposition’s candidates in the 13th general election, Umno Information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said.

He said they also seemed desperate to cut the long queue of opposition leaders who had waited for their chance for so long.

“Some of the opposition leaders and members had waited for 10 or 20 years in the their parties, but cannot do anything with the presence of these ‘queue-cutting’ leaders,” he told reporters after meeting with Perak Umno information machinery here today.

Ahmad (picture) said this in response to the move taken by several former top public officers, including from the Armed Forces, in supporting the opposition.

“They think if they join the opposition, they stand the chance to become a candidate in the next general election,” he said.

However, Ahmad stressed that these individuals would not affect the Barisan Nasional as they only made up a minority group.