Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Mohd Puad Zarkashi has asked new Bersatu recruit Wan Saiful Wan Jan to "learn" from fellow academic and activist Chandra Muzaffar.

Puad said Chandra, like Wan Saiful, rode into PKR on the "reformasi" agenda, only to later leave the party disenchanted.

"In fact, Chandra was offered the position of PKR deputy president. and contested in the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat.

"However, he ended up leaving the party as he was disappointed with the backstabbing. He fell victim to the party which wanted to topple him in the name of ‘reformasi’ within the party.

"His most important comment was about him realising that PKR was an ‘individual’s party’, and not the rakyat’s.

“So, is Bersatu not an ‘individual’s party’ or driven by individual agenda?” the Umno supreme council member asked in a statement.

Puad claimed that many activists turn to politics not so much because they are attracted to the platforms of the parties they join, but because of the promise of a safe seat.

Wan Saiful, he believes, could have been promised an "easy seat" to win in the 14th general election by Bersatu, compared to if he had stayed with PAS.

"The conclusion is, all ‘civil society organisations’ in Malaysia cannot be trusted if they say they are politically motivated.

"It is, in fact, a stepping stone for an individual to garner name and fame before contesting in an election,” Puad said, pointing to the examples of Chandra, Irene Fernandez (Tenaganita), Zainur Zakaria (Bar Council), and Tian Chua (Suaram), and most recently, Maria Chin Abdullah (Bersih),

"Their struggle to supposedly uphold civil society are mere tricks. The rakyat gets cheated, and they (the activists) become politicians who are better liars, like Tian Chua," he added.