Bersatu still part of Harapan, affirms Dr M
Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad today reaffirms that the party is still a part of Pakatan Harapan.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, he said Bersatu would continue to remain within the coalition unless its supreme council decides otherwise.
Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad today reaffirms that the party is still a part of Pakatan Harapan.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, he said Bersatu would continue to remain within the coalition unless its supreme council decides otherwise.
"It is still (with Harapan). Until the decision is made to leave by the supreme council.
"If we want to leave, (then) we will leave," Mahathir said.
He was responding to a reporter's query on the current status of the party, whether it is considered to be a part of Harapan or not.
This comes as Mahathir during the press conference said that Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin had decided to bring the party out of Harapan without going through the council.
Muhyiddin also joined the Perikatan Nasional (PN) loose coalition which formed the current government without the party's approval, he added.
"First of all, the Bersatu supreme council never made any decision to leave Harapan. As we all know through the audio recording, Muhyiddin had given me one week to make a decision.
"But not even one week later, he made a move as if he was no longer a part of Harapan anymore. This was against the party constitution.
"We also found that he made this decision without approval by the Supreme Council. And today, he announced that he has become a part of PN, which Umno earlier said there was no party called PN.
"So what happened was that Muhyiddin joined this PN coalition before it was even formed. This was done without any decision made by the Bersatu supreme council."
In late February, Muhyiddin together with former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and a group of MPs aligned to them had set up a coalition with Umno, PAS and GPS. The coalition then formed the current federal government following the collapse of the Harapan administration.
In doing this, Muhyiddin announced on Feb 24 that his party had left Harapan, citing that the decision was made during a special meeting a day before.
However, the move had sparked an internal crisis within Bersatu, as Mahathir and party leaders loyal to him refused to recognise Muhyiddin's decision.
The rift developed to the extent that the party today has two secretaries-general, separately aligned to Mahathir and Muhyiddin.
Asked on whether Bersatu will take any action against Muhyiddin for his alleged single-handed decision, Mahathir said: "We will decide on that."
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