Info chief says Bersatu supports Dr M’s ‘Malay Proclamation’, but signing has nothing to do with election pact

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is fully supportive of any effort to unite the Malays, including the “Malay Proclamation” touted by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir, its information chief said today.

Datuk Razali Idris said the party leaders who recently inked the document did so in their personal capacity, adding that the act also does not have any relation with the upcoming elections in six states.

“We did not discuss any electoral pact or seat negotiations with Gerakan Tanah Air,” he told reporters at his party’s Aidilfitri open house at Wangsa 118 here.

Gerakan Tanah Air, or GTA for short, is a coalition of Malay organisations that had been associated with Dr Mahathir in the run-up to last year’s general election and aimed to take on the Barisan Nasional coalition.

Its plans for the upcoming state elections are currently unclear.

Razali was one of three Bersatu leaders who signed the Malay Proclamation. The other two are the party deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and supreme council member Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid.

Razali said the Malay Proclamation is an apolitical effort by Malay organisations led by Dr Mahathir.

“Because we know that even the Malays seem to be divided in terms of many NGOs, there are also many political parties,” he said.

Last week, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and several leaders of the Islamist party signed the document in the presence of Dr Mahathir.

The 12-point document written by Dr Mahathir aims to protect the interests of and unite the Malay community to “restore the political power of Malays”.

Yesterday, Anwar reportedly challenged those behind an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the federal government to call for a confidence vote against him during the coming parliamentary sitting on May 22 instead.

The challenge came as Anwar said he needed to put a stop to talks of toppling the unity government, which could sabotage and destabilise the federal administration.

Anwar’s comments were believed to be in reference to a recent news portal report stating that a group of Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, who previously supported Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for prime minister after the 15th general election (GE15), were involved in a plot to overthrow the unity government by quitting their seats and forcing by-elections.

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has since said not even one of its MPs will vacate their seat to attempt to destabilise and topple the Anwar administration.

Rumours about a plot to overthrow Anwar’s unity government have since gained traction over the last few days, fuelled by a meeting held between Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who agreed to collaborate in a movement to establish a Malay political dominance.

Prior to that, Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu refuted rumours that PN has gathered statutory declarations from 126 MPs expressing their support for the coalition.