Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will not be able to lead the government, unlike Umno, if the opposition won the general election (GE) and formed the government.

Umno information chief Annuar Musa said this was because Bersatu which was headed by Muhyiddin Yassin would not have a majority of parliamentary seats in the opposition government to form its administration, in fact it seemed quite difficult for them to even be allowed by other opposition parties to contest in their seats in the next GE.

"Muhyiddin said his party (Bersatu) will replace Umno, if they want to replace Umno how many seats would they be contesting (in the next GE)... will DAP, Amanah, PKR and PAS give way to them, of course not.

"Even if they (Bersatu) can win at most 50 seats (in Parliament) would they be able to determine the country's administration, if not they can just be an insignificant party," he said in Malacca last night.

He was speaking at an event with the Malacca grassroots level in Ayer Keroh which was also attended by Chief Minister Idris Haron, who is also Malacca Umno liaison committee chairperson.

Annuar said Umno was established on the basis of the struggle to defend the Malays and the country as a whole, so how could a party like Bersatu which built upon the dicontentment of certain individuals replace Umno.

"Umno will not be threatened by the existence of Bersatu, with only 30 applications to join the party (Bersatu) they say we are threatened, we (Umno) have millions of members, why should we panic?" he said.

He said it was a blessing in disguise as the Umno members who quit the party had cleansed the party of those who were not loyal, because if they were left unchecked, they would have become thorns in the flesh.

'Sowing hatred'

Meanwhile, when met by reporters after the ceremony, Annuar said the politics of hate allegedly being sowed by the opposition among the people for political gain was deplorable.

"Their (the opposition) action of staging a walkout when the 2017 Budget was being tabled clearly showed their disrespect for the Prime Minister (Najib Abdul Razak) and having street demonstrations clearly showed they were trying to sow political hatred among the people," he said.

He said the people must reject the politics of hate played by the opposition to safeguard the country from being jeopardised.

- Bernama