Zahid agrees to bar independents who contested against BN

Component parties should not take them in as members, but they can become BN associates

KOTA KINABALU: Independent elected representatives should not be accepted as members of any Barisan Nasional component party, Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

Instead, he said, he agreed that these representatives could become BN associates, as suggested by Parti Bersatu Sabah president Joseph Pairin Kitingan

“I know our (BN) feelings have been hurt and it cuts deep. I will whisper to the BN chairman (Najib Razak) not to accept them,” he said at the PBS delegates conference here.

Ahmad Zahid said the matter would be presented at the coming BN and Umno meetings and he would support it.

He also expressed confidence that the current number and ratio of BN representatives from Sabah and Sarawak in the Cabinet would be retained to ensure the spirit of togetherness remained in the government’s administration.

He said in the political history of Malaysian leadership, the highest number of Sabah and Sarawak representatives in the Cabinet was during Najib’s leadership.

Ahmad Zahid also reminded BN component parties to always hold private discussions and not use the social media as a platform to voice their differences in opinion.

– BERNAMA