Mixed reactions to invite

KUALA LUMPUR: The call for Umno members to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) should be given serious thought for the political benefit of the Malays, says Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin.He, however, cautioned that it might lead to no opposition in the country, saying that if the end result of it was that everyone jumped in, that would not be good.

“It’s one thing about the Malay parties being fractured, it is another thing when everyone jumps into one house and then there is no opposition, that’s bad as well.

“So, I don’t know, maybe if Umno wants to join Bersatu, I will stay as the sole opposition,” he said yesterday.This followed Prime Minister and Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call in Johor Baru that all Malay political parties, including Umno, should be under the umbrella of Bersatu for the sake of Malay unity.

Khairy said Dr Mahathir was correct when he expressed his worry that Malay politics was too fractured.

“I think he is coming with the right motivation. We may have disagreements with Dr Mahathir on many things but on the issue of the Malay grounds being fractured, I think that’s right,” he added.

Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, however, said the Malays need not join Bersatu.

“The biggest Malay parties are only Umno and PAS.

“Umno and PAS’ ta’awun siyasi (political cooperation) agenda is far more important in uniting the ummah and beyond political interests,” he said in a Facebook posting.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng hoped Bersatu would stick to the pre-arranged agreement not to admit corrupt Umno members, especially those tainted with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

He, however, said that Bersatu had so far only admitted those who were not involved in corruption and 1MDB with a “cooling off” period from holding posts in the party.Speaking to the media in George Town, Lim also said Bersatu should never accept former Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the party’s former secretary-general, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, for they were facing corruption charges.

Parti Amanah Negara communications director Khalid Abdul Samad said the suggestion to have all Malays under one political party was not practical.

“It is easier said than done. The right-wing Malays would continuously use race and religion as a basis of creating unity while at the same time creating disunity among Malaysians.

“There are the centrist Malays who are more open and they see Malaysia as a multiracial and multireligious society, and their approach would obviously be completely different. “This is the issue that has to be resolved before you can have one umbrella political party representing all Malays,” said Khalid.- Star