SUPPORTERS of former PKR leader Baru Bian have rubbished a news report that the Selangau MP and former works minister is set to join Bersatu.

“If he is joining Bersatu, we would be the first to know,” they told The Malaysian Insight.

“We are his grassroots support. He cannot make a unilateral decision. Baru needs to talk to us first if it’s true that he wants to join Bersatu.

“In the past, Baru had often consulted us and there is no reason for him not to now,” one of them said.

Another supporter said Baru runs the risk of political demise if he makes a move without consulting his supporters.

“Politicians need to explain to us their shift in alignment. If they were to make a decision unilaterally, they would be deemed to us as having betrayed our trust.

“They certainly would not have my support and they could die a natural death at the next election,” one of the leaders said.

The grassroots supporters said if past precedents were taken into account, “it’s highly unlikely” that Baru is making another move.

They said the news report could be the work of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s spin doctors.

Baru, with two other Sarawak MPs, Ali Biju (Saratok) and Willie Mongin (Puncak Borneo), quit PKR last Sunday in solidarity with former deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, who was sacked for attempting to form a backdoor government with PAS and Umno.

Also sacked was vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin, a close ally of Azmin’s.

They were deemed to have gone “against the party’s stand in the matter pertaining to the position of the prime minister”.

All the leaders spoke on condition of anonymity as they are still PKR members.

On the decision the trio took last Sunday to quit the party, they said that decision was not a “sudden impulse decision”.

“It was made months ago,” one claimed.

He said the decision to quit was made in the heated run-up to the party’s national congress in Malacca in December last year.

“The grassroots were consulted and we all agreed that if reconciliation failed, we would align ourselves with Azmin and form a breakaway party.”

The split was averted after Anwar made some last minute concession on Azmin’s role in the congress.

“We’re told they are still in the independent bloc.”

The 11 ex-PKR MPs, including Azmin, were reportedly set to join Bersatu.

Apart from Azmin, Zuraida, Baru, Ali and Mongin, the other six are Saifuddin Abdullah, Kamarudin Jaffar, Mansor Othman, Rashid Hasnon, Jonathan Yasin and Santhara Kumar.

In another development, Baru, Ali and Mongin in a joint statement today after Dr Mahathir’s first public address since he resigned on Monday, said they were vindicated by the interim prime minister’s address.

“His statement reflects exactly what we had said yesterday. Dr Mahathir’s statement has reinforced our stance that reconciliation and healing are paramount,” they stated as they reiterated their fullest support for “this old wise man” to lead the nation.

“These past few days, the numbers game has put a strain on everyone and unnecessarily stressed the nation.

“We therefore welcome his formula of a national government that is inclusive and non-partisan. This is a new direction for our country which we wholly welcome.

“The best and wisest way forward is to rise up from this quagmire of instability and build bridges across all sides. Reconciliation is not just a fine word but real action that we all must take in order to bring healing to this nation now,” they said. – February 26, 2020.