BERSATU is starting to look like Umno 2.0 due to its silence on controversies surrounding its leaders, said prominent lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“When it comes to Bersatu, to me, it looks more like Umno 2.0 because you have a vice-president saying that he believes government contracts should be kept within the party,” she said during the Forsea Democracy Festival 2019 in Kuala Lumpur today.

Ambiga was referring to Bersatu vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s closing speech during the party’s general assembly last December, which she said was concerning as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not address the issue immediately.

“He (Dr Mahathir) did not dismiss it with immediate effect. To me, that is a problem because he is encouraging corruption.

“Instead, we get nonsense on why Bersatu is not taking action against him,” she said.

Ambiga also raised other matters concerning Bersatu, such as secretary-general Marzuki Yahya’s dubious academic qualifications.

She said the issues should have been addressed by the prime minister immediately as a matter of principle.

“Some people say it’s alright to lie about your qualifications because it’s a small thing, but once again, no action was taken.

“There are so many of such instances and it’s happening in Bersatu,” she said.

Ambiga said Bersatu must govern itself in line with democratic principles to show consistency with Pakatan Harapan’s policies.

Abdul Rashid had called for the party’s leadership to use their governmental powers to help grassroots leaders to gain contracts.

His comment was roundly criticised by various parties, including Bersatu’s Youth wing.

Marzuki also had the spotlight cast upon him when his “Cambridge degree” turned out to be from a US-based institution that is suspected to be a degree mill. – February 17, 2019.