Dr M’s Bersatu is heading to Sabah.
Dr M: Bersatu’s move to Sabah will strengthen Warisan-led govt
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is venturing into Sabah to strengthen the Parti Warisan-led state government, and not to wrest control of its power, says party chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We are not taking over. We are merely providing an avenue for former Umno members who do not wish to join Warisan to join Bersatu.
“Otherwise it would damage (the current political landscape) if the former Umno members join other opposition parties,” he said after chairing Bersatu’s supreme council meeting yesterday.
Dr Mahathir said Bersatu would not challenge the state government after announcing that the party had decided to spread its wings to Sabah following requests from former Umno members who wished to join the party.
Dr Mahathir pointed out that although Warisan was not part of Pakatan Harapan, they have agreed to let Warisan lead the coalition in Sabah.
And at the Federal level, he said, Pakatan had also agreed to the appointments of three ministers and two deputy ministers from Warisan.
“This is an extraordinary arrangement,” he said.
Bersatu would only accept former Umno members and those from other parties except Warisan, PKR, DAP and Amanah members, he said.
“And for those from Umno, we impose three conditions. They must quit Umno and remain independent for quite some time.
“We will also screen the background of individual applicants before accepting them into our party,” he said, adding that the party was not into accepting newcomers by groups.
On whether fellow component parties had consented to allowing Bersatu to spread its wings to Sabah, Dr Mahathir said it was a party decision that did not require green light from other coalition members.
On another matter, Dr Mahathir described trade relations with China as “valuable”.
He said China was Malaysia’s biggest trading partner.
Malaysia had also attracted big investors from China, he noted.
Dr Mahathir said he would be looking at the One Road One Belt initiative during his trip to China in April.
On the controversy over the recent sponsored trip for senior police officers to Turkey, Dr Mahathir said the decision was made before Pakatan Harapan came to power.
“But the proposal is good (as it included training sessions on combating online gaming),” he said.