Dr M: On current course, Bersatu will be destroyed in GE15

On the second year anniversary of Pakatan Harapan's 14th general election victory, Dr Mahathir Mohamad today warned Bersatu members to reconsider their positions as part of the Perikatan Nasional government under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who is also the party's president.

In a special video address, the Bersatu chairperson cited recent strained ties between Bersatu and Umno with Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan's declaration that Umno had never joined PN as PN was not a registered political entity like BN.

"On the one hand, we do not have the support from Umno. On the other hand, there is also no support from Harapan. So Bersatu is left flailing with no clear direction, and if there's a general election, it will be impossible for Bersatu to remain (in power)," said the former premier.

"There is a big chance that Bersatu will suffer a devastating loss and the hopes of the Malays to replace Umno with another Malay party will be dashed," stressed the Langkawi MP.

The Pakatan Harapan government collapsed in late February after Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of the coalition.

Muhyiddin, together with a group of PKR defectors led by former PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, joined forces with the opposition to form the current PN government.

The move sparked a divide within Bersatu with Mahathir remaining on the opposition bench in Parliament with four other Bersatu MPs.

Mahathir, meanwhile, also urged Bersatu members to remember their reason for joining the party and to re-evaluate their loyalties.

"Yes, we must be loyal to this person or that person, but it is not blind loyalty. Determine whether the leader is fighting for the people, nation and religion before we can give them our loyalty," he said.

"Those who only fight for themselves [...] even if they are among our leaders, let us not destroy ourselves by being loyal to them," he said.

On Thursday, Bersatu’s Marzuki Yahya refuted claims that the party's national leadership had decided to leave Harapan during a Feb 23 meeting thus causing the collapse of the Harapan federal government.

Marzuki was secretary-general at the time of the meeting. His status from March 18 onwards is in dispute due to infighting between factions led by Mahathir and Muhyiddin. - Mkini