SHAH ALAM, Dec 31 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s claim that it had formed a “majority Malay-Muslim government” under the Perikatan Nasional administration is a “lie”, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said today.
The Parti Pejuang Tanah Air chairman said the majority held by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is only possible following Bersatu accepting non-Malay and non-Muslim MPs defecting from PKR.
“The other members, coming from PKR they are non-Muslims and they claimed they want to form a Malay-Muslim government. We never claimed that,’’ said Dr Mahathir, referring to Bersatu’s stance under his stewardship in the then Pakatan Harapan coalition.
“Of course we need to have our own dominance perhaps but Malay interest will be looked after by us in the context of a multiracial government. That has been the case of Malaysia since independence. There has never been a Malay-Muslim government
“Now is proven to be a lie, because Bersatu which is a Malay-Muslim party is now a multiracial party,’’ he said, referring to the party’s recent admission of non-Bumiputera members.
Former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali along with 10 other of the party’s MPs had defected from PH with 10 of them subsequently formed the Perikatan Nasional administration.
Apart from Azmin, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (Indera Mahkota), Datuk Kamaruddin Ja’afar (Bandar Tun Razak), Datuk Mansor Othman (Nibong Tebal), Datuk Rashid Hasnon (Batu Pahat), Ali Biju (Saratok), Willie Mongin (Puncak Borneo) and Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) have also joined Bersatu.
It is understood that Segamat MP Datuk Seri Santhara Kumar will be joining Bersatu as an associate member.
Selangau MP Baru Bian who also quit the party opted to remain as an independent instead.
Dr Mahathir also stated that the level of corruption within the government is at a dangerous level and urge Pejuang members to remain steadfast in their stance against corruption in his speech today.
