Former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir says he will contest in Kedah and not in Putrajaya.

In an exclusive interview with Sinar Harian, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia vice-president, said he will lead Bersatu in Kedah for the 14th general election and that he will contest in the state.

“The call for me to contest in Putrajaya, as suggested by someone, is wrong. I choose Kedah.”

“However, as to which area in the state, let it remain a secret,” Mukhriz said.

Mukhriz is currently the state representative for Ayer Hitam. In 2008, he won the Jerlun parliamentary seat.

He described the response from the people to join Bersatu as good as it aims to get 500,000 members by the end of this year. Some Umno members, he added are discreetly handing in their application forms to join Bersatu.

'Some of them hold posts in Umno'

“Some of them hold posts in Umno some are Umno division committee members. This is a positive sign. They are waiting for the right time to make the announcement,” he said in the Sinar Harian interview.

Mukhriz also said he hopes that more people in Kedah would join Bersatu, but not out of sympathy for him losing the state MB's post.

This, he added, was one of the factors for there being a lot of Bersatu members in Kedah, “but we cannot rely on the sympathy card when we go in the 14th general election”.

Mukhriz said those who join Bersatu must be prepared to change their perception and prepare themselves for a change in the federal government as the party is steadfast to save the nation from its present predicaments.

“We are not power hungry. It is stated in the party constitution that we reject abuse of power and corruption. This is not empty talk to get more support as one of the conditions imposed for Bersatu leaders is for them to take the oath while holding the Quran,” he said.

Mukhriz also warned of fake membership forms that were found in Perak and Penang.

“The original Bersatu forms have serial numbers for record purposes and this is also to prevent fake membership,” he said, adding that the forms have also been made available online.

Despite being a new party, Bersatu also face disturbances during its registration exercise and this occurred in Langkawi recently, when the party was prevented by the local council to set up an open counter for the exercise.