Bersatu infighting won’t hurt PN, says Gerakan president

 Dominic Lau says every Perikatan Nasional component has internal issues to grapple with.

Gerakan is focused on ensuring Perikatan Nasional wins the next elections, says party president Dominic Lau. (Facebook pic)

KUALA LUMPUR:

 Gerakan president Dominic Lau has played down concerns that infighting in Bersatu could hurt Perikatan Nasional’s image, saying such disputes are a reality in all political parties and should be resolved internally.

Lau, a PN deputy chairman, said each coalition component has its own issues to manage.

“I would say that every political party has its own challenges and its own issues that it has to settle. Gerakan’s stand is very clear. We do not interfere in the politics of component parties.

“Bersatu has its own challenges, but PAS also has its own challenges. Gerakan also has its own challenges and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) has its own.

“All of us have our own problems and challenges that we have to face. But we do not interfere with each other’s internal affairs,” he said in an interview with selected media prior to developments in Bersatu yesterday.

Lau said, the coalition had a shared objective that transcends internal party issues.

“When it comes to PN, we want to win in elections. That’s it.”

The former senator added that Gerakan’s focus would be to help the coalition achieve its goal, rather than getting involved in the internal disputes of any of its partners.

Bersatu has been fraught with infighting in the recent past amid a leadership tussle between party president Muhyiddin Yassin and deputy president Hamzah Zainudin, which ended with the latter’s sacking yesterday.

Muhyiddin has recently been under pressure to step down as party president following a separate dispute with PAS over the PN chairmanship, which he relinquished on Jan 1.

On Tuesday, Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee became the first senior leader to publicly urge Muhyiddin to step down, accusing the former prime minister of failing to effectively manage the crisis within the party.

Yesterday, 16 Bersatu MPs echoed Kiandee’s position, triggering the dismissals of Hamzah, Padang Rengas MP Azahari Hasan and Gerik MP Fathul Huzir Ayob. - FMT