Supreme council gives nod to join Muafakat Nasional - Bersatu president

Bersatu's supreme council has given its nod for the party to join the Umno-PAS Muafakat Nasional (MN) political pact, said party president Muhyiddin Yassin.

According to Muhyiddin, he believed that the unity of the three major Malay-based parties in one coalition would create stability for the country's politics.

"I believe this would be the best option for Bersatu. We choose to be within a large group that combines the major political parties in our country.

"With the unity between Bersatu, Umno, PAS and other parties in the Perikatan Nasional government, we will have most of the rakyat's support with us.

"God willing, this unification will create political stability for our country which will surely bring the joy of peace, harmony and prosperity to all rakyat regardless of their race and religious background," Muhyiddin said in a pre-recorded speech that was broadcasted to Bersatu party members today.

The prime minister delivered the speech in conjunction with Bersatu Youth, Women and divisional meetings that were held nationwide today.

Muafakat Nasional is a political pact that was formed by Umno and PAS last September, formalising their cooperation which started several years ago.

Umno is also a part of BN, which is a formal political coalition that consists of three other parties, MCA, MIC and Sabah's PBRS.

Together with Bersatu, Sarawak-based parties GPS and Star and Sabah-based PBS, the parties in Muafakat Nasional and BN form the PN government, supporting Muhyiddin as the prime minister. However, PN is not a formal pact nor a registered political entity.

Umno, which holds the most number of parliamentary seats among the six parties, had announced that it would not join PN as a coalition but invited Bersatu to join Muafakat instead.

Muhyiddin told party delegates that the cooperation between parties in Muafakat and PN should be nurtured and improved, especially at the grassroots level.

"I know that this process may take some time but I am confident that we can create a strong cooperation with our allies.

"At the central level, I have always conducted discussions with the top leadership of Umno, PAS, MCA, MIC, GPS, PBS, Star and PBRS, which form the PN government. Several major agreements had been reached in these meetings, which I believe would further strengthen the position of Bersatu and our allies in PN," he said.

'I have never betrayed Bersatu'

Meanwhile, in his speech, Muhyiddin also addressed the issue of former party chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has formed a new political party.

He said while he is sad that Mahathir is no longer with Bersatu, it was Mahathir's right to choose his own path.

Muhyiddin said that the party should also move on without Mahathir and continue Bersatu's struggle for the people.

"Tun Mahathir used to be with us. I cannot deny his contributions to us. I really respect him as a former party leader, and those close to me know how I respect Tun Mahathir.

"All of us surely are sad as he is no longer with us, but it’s okay. He has chosen his own path and I wish him all the best.

"What is important is that this party's struggle must be continued. Leaders come and go, but the objectives of the party must be protected," he said.

Two weeks ago, Mahathir announced that he was forming a new political party. He later revealed that it would be named as Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).

The former prime minister was among Bersatu's founding members and was made its chairperson. However, ties between Mahathir and Muhyiddin became sour when the latter engineered a political coup dubbed as the "Sheraton Move" in February, which led to the fall of Pakatan Harapan federal government.

The situation continued to worsen between the two, creating a split in Bersatu. The tension came to its peak when Muhyiddin expelled Mahathir and five other Bersatu MPs aligned to the nonagenarian for sitting with the opposition in Parliament on May 18, which had allegedly violated the party's constitution.

Following the Sheraton Move, Mahathir and his loyalists branded those who left Harapan as traitors, claiming that the latter had betrayed the people's mandate to Harapan during the 14th general election.

Mahathir also alleged that Bersatu had diverted from its original struggle to fight against kleptocracy and corruption in government, saying that the party had been "hijacked" by Muhyiddin who now worked together with Umno.

Addressing this allegation in his speech today, Muhyiddin refuted that he had ever betrayed the party.

"I have never betrayed this party. I am the one who formed the party. So there is no reason for me to betray the party that I myself had set up," he said.

Muhyiddin also called for party members to move on and not to look back in their struggle.

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