Bersatu AGM to focus on bread-and-butter matters

INTERVIEW | Amid politicking, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin is hoping that the party delegates will pivot on bread-and-butter issues at its annual general meeting this weekend.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Muhyiddin said the AGM must be used as an opportunity to strengthen Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan particularly now that they had been given the mandate to rule the country.

Central to the effort, he stressed, is to champion the rakyat's aspirations for better living conditions.

"It is important for us to take this opportunity to strengthen Bersatu and by doing this we also together strengthen Harapan both as a political party and as the government. Because we have been given the mandate and confidence by the rakyat to lead this country for the next five years.

"(Among the) points our delegates will focus on in their debates is to discuss the important message from our chairperson [...] how to help our party to have a stronger footing and how to ensure wider acceptance of the rakyat towards Bersatu.

“Also on how we can play a main role in the government. Because we are now not only a political party but also a part of the Pakatan Harapan government," he said during a special interview session held in conjunction with the convention beginning today.

Muhyiddin elaborated that Harapan could be strengthened through, among others, closer cooperation and better understanding among the component parties all working as a team to achieve the agenda they have set.

He said it is important to form a strong team that could help the government to fulfil its manifesto promises and to carry out the transformation and reformation of the country.

Most important of these agendas, he stressed, was finding ways on how the cost of living could be reduced.

"We are very concerned about this issue. That is why we reminded all delegates from all over the country that they must represent the rakyat's voice.

"The rakyat has been demanding for the Harapan government to help solve bread-and-butter issues such as living costs, the increase in the prices of goods, the cut in government subsidies, the declining commodity prices, the burden of Felda settlers due to a lack of financial assistance and other issues concerning the general public.

"So the message that we want to bring to this conference revolves around the efforts that can be taken by our party and the government to address these issues faced by the rakyat," he said.

The Bersatu AGM is the second since its inception in 2016. The party had recently been engulfed in a string of controversies both internally and between its partners in Harapan following the acceptance into its fold of Umno defectors.

This had not gone down well with some Harapan leaders and supporters who feel that the presence of ex-Umno leaders and members is against the people's hope for a “new Malaysia”.

No-holds-barred meeting

Besides this, several Bersatu leaders including its Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman have been trading barbs with fellow Harapan leaders over a call for de facto national unity minister P Waythamoorthy to resign following the Seafield temple fracas.

Asked how the party would address the possibility of emotionally-charged speeches during the conference, Muhyiddin said the delegates had been told that they were free to speak their mind.

He said this was why the media was not invited for the delegates' debates, adding that party leaders must listen to what the grassroots bring up.

"They will voice matters of interest and which are important for the country and the party, so we have to be very open about it.

"I don't think we need to condemn or tell them what can or cannot be said. I don't think it is fair (to issue such a restriction).

"This is what I told them. That is why we don't want the press to come in. (So) then they can feel free to say what they want. We do not put restrictions."

Muhyiddin said the party is also hoping for delegates to convey the meeting's outcomes to the party grassroots.

He said the grassroots have largely been somewhat lost on what role they need to play in the new government.

"Because when I went to meet party members on the ground, some came up to me and asked what they should do now.

"So I told them that we should focus on the problems faced by the people. The party might not be able to help them because we don't have money, but the government can.

"But if we do not take note of their issues, it is akin to neglecting them. So what is the meaning of the party's struggle which we have been fighting for all this while?

"So these are among the messages that (the delegates) must take back so that they can be implemented and thus together we can strengthen our party," said Muhyiddin. - Mkini