Bersatu in better position than rivals, say party men

 

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin campaigning during the recent Johor elections.

PETALING JAYA: Bersatu has rejected an analyst’s opinion that it is in a desperate situation and in need of a new president to lead it into the coming general election.

Faiz Na’aman, a member of the party’s supreme council, claimed that Bersatu was doing better than most of its rivals. He cited the results of the recent Johor state elections.

He said Bersatu performed better in the Johor polls than did Pejuang, Muda, Warisan and Pakatan Harapan although he acknowledged that his party did not outdo DAP.

“PAS is still firm with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, and we have close relations with GPS,” he told FMT, referring to Gabungan Parti Sarawak, the ruling coalition in the East Malaysian state.

Recently, political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said the outlook for Bersatu and PN was gloomy, especially after the failure of attempts to forge some form of cooperation with Pejuang and PH.

He also said someone else should take over Bersatu’s leadership from Muhyiddin Yassin.

Faiz said the party believed in Muhyiddin’s leadership and that there was no discussion to replace him as the party president.

BN won 40 seats in the Johor polls, followed by DAP with 10 seats and PN with three seats. PKR, Amanah and Muda got one seat each.

According to the Election Commission, BN’s share of the popular vote was 43.11% and PN’s was 24.04%.

Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Ahmad Kamal said any attempt by the party to forge cooperation with other parties was not a desperate act but a strategy to ensure victory.

“Politics, besides serving the rakyat at all times, is about figuring out the best method to win and form a government,” he told FMT, adding that Bersatu had received requests from other parties to discuss the way forward in GE15.

“They called and requested a meeting with Muhyiddin after seeing and experiencing a series of bad runs in recent elections. Perhaps they realise that multi-cornered fights will allow kleptocrats to return to power again and they want to prevent that.”

He said this was not the time to replace Muhyiddin.

“We have many capable leaders who are ready to succeed Muhyiddin when the time comes, but right now we are focusing on uniting the party for GE15.”

Yesterday, Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin said the party had given its political bureau, led by Muhyiddin, the full mandate to discuss cooperation with other parties ahead of GE15.

He said the matter was decided by the party’s supreme council after the Johor polls. - FMT