VOTERS in the coming Johor elections should ask themselves if they want throw their support behind a party with corrupt leaders, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said.

“Najib, for instance, has been found guilty in court and the party has a group of people facing charges in court,” he said in a press conference today in the capital.

He added that voters should just dump Umno and vote another party.

“I think Perikatan Nasional can do a better job as none of us have been charged with corruption,” he said.

Last week, during an exchange with Najib Razak on the Sabah elections, Muhyiddin said he would be “ashamed” to be associated with Umno, a party with a “boss” who has been convicted in the courts.

“It is a blessing that Bersatu does not work with Umno as Bersatu won’t become entangled in the moral problems plaguing Umno leaders.

“Personally, I’d be ashamed to be associated with a party that embraces someone who has been convicted by the courts of serious crimes, as its boss,” he said in a statement.

Muhyiddin’s stinging rebuke came after Najib accused Bersatu through Perikatan Nasional (PN) of fielding candidates against Barisan Nasional (BN) in 17 state assembly seats in the Sabah polls last year.

The Pekan MP also claimed that BN sacrificed many seats to Bersatu as part of the negotiations to be given the chief minister’s post if BN won, but the opposite happened when Bersatu got the post instead.

Muhyiddin refuted this and said the seats which saw a clash between PN and BN did not involve Bersatu and Umno. Instead, it was among Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), PBS and BN.

Both parties, as was the case with the Malacca polls, will not be working together in Johor.

On the coming Johor polls, Muhyiddin said he hopes the SOP would not be as tight as what was enforced in Malacca.

“During the Malacca polls, we could not even introduce our candidate to the voters.

“Imagine having a young candidate who is not known among the voters, how are we able to reach them with tight SOP,” said the Pagoh lawmaker.

The Election Commission will meet on February 9 to decide on the dates for nominations and polling for the Johor elections, which must be held within 60 days from the dissolution of the state assembly on January 22. – February 7, 2022.