Bersatu supporters hope to sign up 50,000 members
KUCHING: A group of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia ( Bersatu) supporters aspires to sign up 50,000 members in Sarawak in the hope of having Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launch the chapter by the year’s end.
Spokesman Affendi Jeman said as of yesterday, the group has received 19,868 membership application forms.
“We are looking to set up 31 branches, in all the 31 parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak. This is to showcase our support and intent of helping realise the vision of Tun Dr Mahathir, as the chairman, to bring Bersatu to Sarawak.
“We target to gather 50,000 applications by end of this year to pave way for Tun Dr Mahathir to launch Bersatu in Sarawak,” he told a news conference.
According to Affendi, the group seeks to recruit 200,000 Sarawakians, following the recent change of political landscape at the federal level, prior to the 12th Sarawak election.
He said the group consists of members from the Malay, Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Penan, Kenyah, Kayan, and Kelabit communities.
“I believe the majority of Sarawakians want to be with Bersatu,” he said, adding former Mas Gading member of parliament Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe had also submitted his application.
“We represent the grassroots level and we want to fight for the people, not just for a certain group.”
Affendi added the group is looking forward to having their applications being processed and accepted by Bersatu’s central leadership in Peninsular Malaysia.
“We hope that Tun Dr Mahathir will in the near future spread the wings of Bersatu to Sarawak,” he said.
On June 25, Bernama reported Dr Mahathir as saying he was considering setting up Bersatu in Sarawak because other Pakatan Harapan (PH) parties have already done so.
He added Bersatu would not go to Sabah because the party regarded Parti Warisan Sabah as an ally.