Bersatu will not withdraw support for PM

PUTRAJAYA - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) will not withdraw its support for the Prime Minister and the government, although Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has decided to maintain Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamarudin’s position in the cabinet.

Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said the party will keep supporting the Prime Minister as it intended to put the country and the people first before political issues and the fight over the Prime Minister’s position.

Hamzah who is the Home Minister said the allegations were untrue and that it would only destroy the people’s views on the country.

“I would like to emphasise that Bersatu is a party which provides opportunities and would sacrifice for the people.

“Previously (when Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruled in 2018-2020), we had a Prime Minister from Bersatu, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad before he resigned (in February 2020). When Dr Mahathir resigned, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Bersatu president) was chosen as the Prime Minister.

"When Muhyiddin became the Prime Minister, who had caused him to resign and leave Perikatan Nasional (PN)? It was the 15 Umno MPs who withdrew their support for him”, he said during an exclusive interview with Sinar Premium and Sin Chew Daily at his office in Putrajaya, last Thursday.

Commenting further, Hamzah said if PN and Muhyiddin wanted to make the situation worse, Bersatu could have chosen the difficult path by not supporting the appointment of Ismail Sabri as the ninth Prime Minister.

However, he said because the interest of the country and the people was Bersatu’s top priority, the party had given its full support to Ismail Sabri.

"When Mahathir resigned, everyone was on board to give their support to Muhyiddin as the Prime Minister, so what did Bersatu do wrong?.

“This was because the individual who resigned was Mahathir and the one chosen to be the Prime Minister was Muhyiddin. What is so wrong with that? A Prime Minister from Bersatu was replaced with another one from the same party,” he said.

However, he said Muhyiddin was then forced to step down and was replaced by Ismail Sabri after the 15 MPs withdrew their support for the Pagoh MP.

"Bersatu could have told the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that we do not want to give our support to anyone to become the Prime Minister. We no longer need to be questioned on whether or not we support the Prime Minister if he stays in power and keeps Zuraida as a cabinet minister," he said.

Hamzah said Bersatu will continue to support the Prime Minister for the country's peace and stability.