ARMY veteran and Umno grassroots leader Mohd Ali Baharom, commonly known as Ali Tinju, is unlikely to be accepted into Bersatu’s fold as the party is not keen to take on leaders of questionable character, said its president Muhyiddin Yassin today.

Ali was reported as saying earlier today that he was now a supporter of the prime minister and Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, as he had lost faith in Umno’s leadership following corruption scandals involving its leaders.

He submitted his application form to Bandar Tun Razak Bersatu chief Mohd Shahni Ismail.

Muhyiddin, while confirming that the party had received Ali’s application, said the party would decide whether he was qualified to be a member or otherwise.

“Our party has principles and we will accept those who we think will hold on to the party’s struggles. The person should also not have any bad record,” Muhyiddin said.

“Not every application will be automatically accepted. If we regard him (the applicant) as a person with bad character, we will reject him.

“There are a lot of bad stories linked to Ali Tinju. Media coverage does not reflect well on him. Same as Jamal Jamban (Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Yunos), perhaps.”

“You can’t expect us to take in people like that.”

Ali gained notoriety in 2012 after leading a protest of ex-servicemen outside the home of former Bersih co-chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan to perform “butt exercises”, as a warning to her not to go ahead with the third Bersih rally in 2012.

Three years later, he was charged for making seditious remarks during a protest at Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. Prosecutors later dropped the case, citing lack of evidence.

The following year, he led another protest against the TangkapMO1 rally, a gathering against former prime minister Najib Razak.

Ali was also accused of making death threats against former Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.

Then home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reclassified the death-threat case as NFA (no further action).   

News reports today quoted Ali as saying he was merely acting on the orders of his superiors in those cases.

“I joined Bersatu on my own accord. In Umno, I was not in a leadership position. So, we were just taking orders from the leaders,” he had said. – November 12, 2018.