DR Mahathir Mohamad today invited all Malay parties, including Umno, to join Bersatu in efforts to unite the Malays.

The Bersatu chairman said he found more and more Malay parties being formed, which reduced the chances of them to win elections.

“Yes, join Bersatu. When our group is big, we become strong, but don’t stop others from joining the party (Bersatu), let them join.

“If we are split, we become weak, united we stand, divided we fall (bercerai roboh, bersatu teguh). (But) we find that there are people forming new parties, (now) we have become six, soon there will be 10, (then) 100. There are 30 people in one party, How to win (the election),” he said after the Johor Bersatu Aidilfitri open house at the Dewan Serbaguna Johor Jaya this afternoon.

The prime minister said this when asked whether he was inviting all the existing Malay parties to join Bersatu to strengthen Malays.

When asked whether there will be objections from other Pakatan Harapan component parties, Dr Mahathir said: ”That is their problem. We have no connection with other parties. Although (they are) in Pakatan Harapan (PH), they, too, get new members.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Mahathir said in the past, only one party represented Malays.

“All the Malays joined Umno, but because of their greed for positions, today the Malays are broken into six (parties). Six, no longer the majority for 60%, but each party only has 10 per cent,”he said.

Because the Malays have been divided, so they are no longer strong as before, the prime minister added.

In addition, Dr Mahathir also reminded that all party members to remain loyal to the party instead of being loyal to a certain leader.

The prime minister also reminded the party’s leaders to take the episode of Umno’s loss in Johor, which was known to be the party’s stronghold, as an important lesson.

“What is obvious is that no matter how strong the party is, if it had strayed it would become weak. This is the lesson that we get from the Johor incident.

“That is why we have to be careful so that our party retains our struggles. We can change leaders but it is not easy to change the struggles. When we do such a thing, even whatever strength the party has will crumble.

“That is the lesson that we learn, although it was a fortress previously, it can be penetrated when it is weak,” Dr Mahathir added.

The prime minister who arrived at 5.05pm was greeted by Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Tun Mahathir and Johor Bersatu chairman Mazlan Bujang.

He was later seen shaking hands for almost 15 minutes with party members attending the open house gathering.

Apart from enjoying the Hari Raya delicacies, Dr Mahathir was also entertained by a zapindance troupe and songs from artiste, Ayai Ilusi. – Bernama, July 5, 2019.