5 reasons why Bersatu is joining Muafakat - supreme council member

Bersatu supreme council member Razali Idris has listed five reasons for his party to join the Muafakat Nasional political pact.

He said firstly, it was because the pact's members, Umno and PAS, had invited his party to join.

The second reason was to establish national unity through the collaboration of the largest Malay, bumiputera, and Islamic parties, Razali told Sinar Harian.

"Thirdly, it is to create a huge coalition in the peninsula and cooperate with component parties in Sabah and Sarawak.

"Next, it is to prove that Bersatu is not rigid about race.

"Lastly, the coalition is targeting to win the 15th general election with a two-thirds majority," he said.

Razali's comments came after Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki outlined five reasons for the uneasiness of Umno grassroots over the entry of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's party into Muafakat.

Asyraf said the main reason why Umno grassroots were uncomfortable with Bersatu was that they viewed Bersatu as being made up of former Umno members who had "betrayed the party struggle" by party-hopping after the 14th general election.

He also accused Bersatu of dividing the Malay electorate in the previous general election, which led to the fall of the BN federal government.

He added that when Bersatu was part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, its leaders had made remarks which demeaned Umno.

The Umno grassroots, Asyraf said, also saw Bersatu's move to join Muafakat as an effort to safeguard the positions of certain leaders rather than uniting the Malays and championing the people's welfare.

The Umno Youth chief also said the entry of Bersatu into Muafakat was being done hastily and out of desperation.

Dismissing Asyraf's concerns, Razali said the former should not be narrow-minded about the unity of the three parties in Muafakat.

"Instead, Asyraf should have provided positive explanations to the grassroots so that they can accept the current situation and focus on developing the economy," he told the Malay daily. - Mkini