GEORGE TOWN, April 23 — Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy today sought to repair ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, just a day after he likened the party to Umno.

Ramasamy now says he wants an open discussion on the intake policy of 90 per cent Bumiputera students and 10 per cent non-Bumiputera students in government matriculation programmes.

The Penang lawmaker, who was criticised for equating Bersatu with Umno over the matriculation programme intake policy, said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government need not "stick with old policies” left by the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

"My issue is with the intake for the matriculation programme, not with Bersatu. They are my comrades,” he clarified when contacted today.

He said Bersatu should allow some space for discussion on the admission policy for the matriculation programme instead of maintaining the 90:10 ratio policy.

"Let’s discuss this openly instead of attacking each other. I am not only calling on Bersatu but also PKR and DAP leaders to discuss this intelligently and look for a proper solution to this issue,” he said.

He said the issue will be discussed by the Cabinet tomorrow, which he hoped will look at it in a progressive manner.

Ramasamy came under fire from Bersatu Secretary-General Datuk Marzuki Yahya and Penang Bersatu information chief Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq today for equating Bersatu with Umno in his Facebook posting yesterday.

Khaliq had demanded that Ramasamy retract his statement while stressing that supporting the 90:10 ratio policy does not mean that Bersatu is similar to Umno.

Marzuki also pointed out that Bersatu is far different from Umno and that it has never denied the rights of other races in its fight for the Malays.

Yesterday, Ramasamy accused Bersatu of being "entrapped in the mindset of Umno” by holding on to decisions made by Umno when the latter was in power.

He said there was a need to go beyond the 90:10 formula for the matriculation intake policy even though it is an existing formula.

"Clinging to old methods does not do good for Bersatu and any other component parties in PH.

"Even if the current ratio of 90:10 is adopted, the numbers might not match,” he said.

Recently, Education Minister Maszlee Malik had said the 90:10 ratio policy for matriculation programmes will be maintained and Bersatu information chief Mohd Radzi Mohd Jidin had voiced his support.

Maszlee then reportedly said he will bring up concerns over the admission into the matriculation programmes with the Cabinet tomorrow for a proper outcome.