Azmin and nine others yet to submit forms to join Bersatu, says Marzuki

Former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and nine other defectors who supposedly joined Bersatu with him have yet to submit their membership forms, said Marzuki Yahya.

This is despite Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s confirmation that the group have officially joined the party.

“I personally asked Azmin (photo) where is his (membership) form and there was no response to this day, and I understand that an application has been made to become a member.

“All there was is the president’s announcement that they have become members.

“So, we’d like to ask since they are members, they must have their membership number, know which division they are attached to, which branch…

“To this day we did not receive any forms or applications from Azmin and his friends to join Bersatu,” he said during a talk show aired via Bersatu Youth’s Facebook page last night.

Marzuki (below) was the secretary-general appointed by Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad but was sacked by Muhyiddin.

Muhyiddin had written to Marzuki on March 18 to inform the latter of his termination. No reasons were cited.

During the "Sheraton Move" in late-February, Malaysiakini had quoted sources close to Muhyiddin saying that Azmin and nine other defectors had joined Bersatu.

Muhyiddin later confirmed this during a press conference on March 11, after chairing his first cabinet meeting.

“Yes. In fact, the application has been agreed upon by the supreme council of Bersatu when we had our meeting.

“... we said that Azmin has come together with the rest [...]and the supreme council accepted their applications to join us. That is as far as the party is concerned,” The Star quoted Muhyiddin as saying.

Apart from Azmin, the other PKR parliamentarians who defected are Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, Indera Mahkota MP Saifuddin Abdullah, Bandar Tun Razak MP Kamaruddin Ja’afar, Nibong Tebal MP Mansor Othman, Batu Pahat MP Rashid Hasnon, Saratok MP Ali Biju, Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin, and Ranau MP Jonathan Yasin.

Segamat MP Santhara Kumar reportedly joined as an associate member.

For the record, Marzuki was Bersatu’s secretary-general until his status came under dispute on March 18, when Muhyiddin - who had earlier appointed himself as acting Bersatu chairperson - appointed Hamzah Zainuddin as the new secretary-general.

Factions led by Mahathir and Muhyiddin had been bickering over the future direction of the party, whether to side with Pakatan Harapan or Perikatan Nasional.

Meanwhile, Marzuki insisted that Bersatu had never left Pakatan Harapan in the first place, despite statements from various Bersatu leaders on the contrary.

He said this is because such statements go against the Bersatu supreme council’s decisions, which had been properly recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

As of the council’s final meeting on the morning Feb 23, the decision was to entrust Mahathir to make to call on whether the party should leave Pakatan Harapan.

Despite that, Bersatu leaders met up with PKR leaders aligned to Azmin at the Sheraton Hotel that night, culminating in political manoeuvres that led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan-led government.

During last night’s talk, Marzuki also addressed the "confusion" over his announcement that the supreme council had unanimously decided to leave Harapan.

Marzuki said prior to the announcement on Feb 24, he said he had asked Muhyiddin to postpone the announcement while he consults Mahathir.

“I asked for it to be delayed a little to give me the chance to meet Mahathir to discuss the decision.

“Unfortunately, while still on the way to Mahathir’s residence, I received Whatsapp messages that the president has issued a statement saying that we have left Harapan.

“That was not a meeting decision, but as secretary-general, I abide with any decision made by the president and made a statement based on what was said earlier that evening,” he said.

For the record, Muhyiddin had said the decision to leave Harapan was made during a special meeting a day earlier on Feb 23.

Marzuki had told reporters on Feb 25 that it was a unanimous decision by the Bersatu supreme council. - Mkini