PUTRAJAYA: The committee set up by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to assess and examine membership applications from former Umno members will take into account the views of the grassroots in its decision, said the party deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir.
Mukhriz, who chairs the committee, said the committee would first get feedback from the divisions concerned on the intention by any former opposition elected representatives to join Bersatu.
“Some (divisions) can accept because they think they will have an elected representative in the division although during the 14th general election (GE14), they were at logger-heads because (then) they were from rival parties,” he told Bernama in an interview at PICC here.
He said some divisions, however, were against having former Umno parliamentary members or assemblymen into Bersatu because of the wrongdoings committed by the former opposition members.
“Although there is no official report (on the wrongdoings), this kind of people cannot be accepted for fear of bringing the bad culture into Bersatu,’ he added.
Besides the screening by the committee, Mukhriz said former Umno leaders in Bersatu, like him and president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, knew them (the elected representatives who quit Umno).
“We know their political habits while in Umno,” he said, adding that Bersatu would ensure the migration of opposition members into Bersatu would not affect the party’s reputation and image.
He said there was also no need for the grassroots leaders in Bersatu to fear that the migration would reduce their chances of becoming party candidates in the next general election.
Mukhriz said the former opposition elected representatives should realise the mistakes done by their former party, and to make a public apology for it.
“I see that some of those who expressed their desire to jump party do not realise this, like they don’t feel guilty,” he added.
He said an apology from the former Umno members would reduce the “discomfort” among Bersatu members to accept them into the party.
Asked about the opinion of other component parties in Pakatan Harapan (PH) on the matter, Mukhriz said he had explained it to the PH Presidential Council that Bersatu took seriously the process of filtering the former opposition members before they could be accepted into the party.
Mukhriz said he believed there were elected representatives from the opposition who were keen to join other PH component parties and regarded it as strengthening the government in Parliament. — Bernama
