Dr M on joining Bersatu: I was inviting members, not Malay parties
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has clarified that his invite to Malay parties to join Bersatu is only targeted at the members, and not an invitation for the parties to join Pakatan Harapan.
“Pakatan Harapan cannot accept any more parties. If we accept any more parties then choosing candidates for elections will be a problem. Everyone wants their candidates...
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has clarified that his invite to Malay parties to join Bersatu is only targeted at the members, and not an invitation for the parties to join Pakatan Harapan.
“Pakatan Harapan cannot accept any more parties. If we accept any more parties then choosing candidates for elections will be a problem. Everyone wants their candidates.
“If they (the members) come into existing parties, then it is okay,” he said in a press conference after the Harapan presidential council meeting at Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya today.
Mahathir joked that he was suffering from back pain because he had been “beaten up” (belasah) over his invite to the Malay parties.
“This is not a racist sentiment because we want to save everyone.
“Our party is called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, so it is better to unite (bersatu). Otherwise, we should just drop the 'bersatu' from our name,” he said.
Last Friday, Mahathir had invited all Malay parties, including Umno, to join Bersatu in efforts to unite the Malays.
He said more and more Malay parties were being formed which reduced the potentials of the Malay parties to win the election.
At the same press conference, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim was asked about investors’ concerns over the continuity of policies once he takes over as prime minister.
“Mahathir is acting based on Harapan policies and I am a Harapan member,” Anwar answered.
Mahathir added jokingly: “Harapan members must follow the leader. If they don’t follow, we beat them up (belasah)”.
Harapan had said that Anwar will succeed Mahathir as prime minister a few years into the administration.
However, the exact timeframe for the succession plan has been a contentious issue and has yet to be revealed so far.
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