Umno thumbs nose at Dr M over invitation to join Bersatu

Umno leaders are taking jabs at Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the latter's invitation for all Malay parties, including Umno, to join his party Bersatu

Former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak (photo, above) said he wants to know what Pakatan Harapan thinks of Mahathir's suggestion.

"We think it is better to wait for the comment of his allies in Harapan - PKR, Amanah, and DAP - and after that Umno will comment," Najib told reporters when met in Kuala Lumpur today.

Mahathir yesterday invited all Malay parties, including Umno, to join Bersatu in efforts to unite the Malays and ensure they are still able to win elections.

This is due to Malays being too divided with more and more Malay parties being formed.

Bersatu was formed after a falling-out between Mahathir and Najib over the latter's leadership of Umno and the 1MDB scandal.

At present, besides Bersatu and Umno, other predominantly Malay parties include PAS, Amanah, Putra, and Ikatan.

PKR which is a multiracial party also has a sizeable number of Malay members - and was itself an Umno splinter group.

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, however, said this division and loss of political powers only occurred after Mahathir formed Bersatu, and - more painfully - worked with DAP to defeat Umno.

He also said that it showed Bersatu was not capable of representing the Malays.

"To Mahathir, the call for Malay unity is good, but Umno already has a head-start by working with PAS," Mohamad said on Facebook.

Likewise, PAS central committee member Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi said Mahathir and Bersatu should instead join PAS and Umno in their efforts to unite the Malays.

"The efforts by the united ummah (Muslims) cooperation is not just to restore the honour and political powers of the Malays but also to put the focus on the Malay agenda back at the right track, where Malays should be modern, capable, and competitive. Not just in this country but at the international level," he said. - Mkini