Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also the Pakatan Harapan chairperson, wants an end to the new ruling coalition accepting defectors from BN.

Mahathir said this was because such moves do not reflect well on Harapan in the eyes of the people.

"It seems there are many from opposing parties who were defeated and want to join the parties in Pakatan Harapan.

"But we find that the rakyat cannot accept people from Umno and other (former ruling parties).

"Therefore, they should not be accepted as members (in Harapan)," he told a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya this afternoon.

Mahathir said BN members can support the new government, but they will not be accepted into the ruling coalition.

"They can quit their parties, such as Umno, or they can declare their support for the government individually, but they will not become members in parties with the ruling government.

"This is because it will not be taken well by the people, who do not want members of the old government to influence the new government," he said.

Mahathir stressed that he did not want the new government to look like the old one.

"So their (opposing parties) will not have an effect and their participation (in Harapan parties) will not be accepted," he said.

Last Saturday, Johor Bersatu secretary Osman Sapian (photo) oversaw the defections of three Umno assemblypersons to Bersatu, giving Harapan a two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

Osman was later sworn in as the Johor Menteri Besar.

On Monday, Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who is also the state Bersatu chief, accepted the defection of some 200 former Umno members, including one assemblyperson.

Fazial later rejected one of the applications after coming under heavy criticism.

The application was by former Behrang assemblyperson Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, who in 2009 defected from PKR and contributed to the collapse of the then Pakatan Rakyat state government.

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