YOURSAY | ‘The big question is how should an Umno member be proven to have repented?’

Bersatu won't allow hostile takeover by ex-Umno members - Mahathir

Anonymous 1802761448130592: With all due respect, of which I have abundance of, I fully and completely agree with PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Bersatu should only admit former Umno members who have proven to have repented.

However, the big question is how should an Umno member be proven to have repented?

Should it be those who now "grovel, plead and cry" over spilt milk and those who do a 360-degree turn, criticising their once mighty beloved Umno's supreme leader while "bodeking" Pakatan Harapan leaders now, like what Nazri Abdul Aziz is doing?

Judiciously, the only ones fit to join Bersatu are the 16 former Umno members who challenged the legality of the party and those who spoke out against the racist, extremist, corrupt, abusive and arrogant leaders of Umno before May 9.

It is obvious, going by these criteria, that very few Umno members will be qualified to join Bersatu, but it is far better to have quality than quantity.

The rest will just have to wait and go through the penance and test of patience and sincerity for a few years in the political wilderness!

There should be no two ways about this unless Bersatu prefers to savour in the pomp and glory of the moment at the perils of real harm and rot to the party, Harapan and our beloved nation.

Quigonbond: I'm glad Mahathir is responding to this concern. It's hard for outside observers to ask Bersatu to stop taking anyone or to stop strengthening themselves because they also want to have an equal if not bigger say in Harapan.

But it does become an issue if Umnoputras start forming the majority against the idealists within Bersatu. So Mahathir is responding to this.

Unfortunately, his condition for acceptance is a fairy tale. People can promise, even beg on all fours and lick his boots that they have repented.

The only real test is to leave them out there in the wilderness for a long time, test their true mantle and see if they are really determined to serve the people.

But that's just the start and not even coming close to being satisfactory. The problem lies with the struggle of Bersatu itself.

It seems to want to "replace" Umno instead of transforming itself to a more multiracial outlook. So Umno's struggles effectively become its struggles.

For most Malaysians who voted for Pakatan Harapan in GE14, this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs because what we see lately is that any "fairness" policies are easily torpedoed by knee-jerk reaction the moment someone from Umno-PAS cries race, religion or royalty.

Pakcik Am: Indeed, all Umno members who supported then PM Najib Abdul Razak after the Wall Street Journal exposed Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) must be banned.

Rafidah plans to join Bersatu, but refuses to be linked to Tok Pa

VP Biden: Former minister Rafidah Aziz, you recently wrote that Malaysia must move away from race-based politics, but now you want to join a race-based party that’s morphing into Umno instead of various multiracial parties in Harapan?

Anonymous: Another "Malaysia for all" advocate, the outspoken and principled former minister Rafidah is now joining Malay-only Bersatu (like Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman) and is showing her true colours - this is clearly about the Malays’ power struggle and political realignment.

Nothing much will change for sure.

Ravinder: Yes, Rafidah, it is better to stay out of any party and be able to criticise any party or politicians. Be independent.

Kahlil Gibran: Do not join any party, just remain neutral and speak your mind. We need neutral critics who will criticise the wrong, whether it is BN or Harapan.

Harapan is becoming arrogant and not receptive to criticism even when they are wrong.

KSS: Too many old faces are not healthy. They (senior leaders) must give way to the younger leaders. Rafidah is such a strong character, no one would dare speak frankly in front of her. This sort of leadership is not popular anymore.

We need to see a healthy mix of young and old. What's the point of changing government but we keep bringing back the same people?

Fair Play: Think about this. What if, after joining Bersatu, Rafidah is offered a cabinet post via the senatorship route to strengthen Bersatu’s crop of cabinet ministers vis-a-vis the other component parties of Harapan coalition?

Would that be acceptable?

No Fear Nor Favour: This is my lady, outspoken, frank, righteous and with integrity. She spoke without fear or favour.

Mahathir, I would appoint her as a tutor to guide the non-performing ministers, to show them a thing or two.

SVR: Yes, if she is in government, she can guide and impart her knowledge and experience to our young inexperienced ministers.

Perhaps she can play the role of adviser to some of our weaker ministers.

Debater: The new Malaysia is just another power struggle of Umno factions. Bersatu is just a replay of Umno and Semangat 46 that gave rise to Umno Baru after the deregistration of Umno.

Take a good look at the Council of Eminent Persons - they are all cronies from the old Mahathir days who made their millions through ‘ketuanan Melayu’.

The only difference is now is that Bersatu uses a velvet glove instead of the crude leather gloves to browbeat the non-Malays.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.