TWO more Bersatu leaders have quit the party, taking their supporters with them, and thrown their support behind former chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has just formed a new party.

Bersatu supreme council member Abdul Kadir Jasin kicked off the exodus by leaving the party on August 6.

Jeram rep Mohd Shaid Rosli and supreme council member Tariq Ismail Mustafa said Bersatu under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership has deviated from its real struggle.

Shaid also said members of the Jeram and Kuala Selangor Bersatu divisions were also quitting the party.

“As the assemblyman chosen by the rakyat in Jeram, I am responsible for the mandate and trust given to me,” he said.

“I want to continue to be with those who gave me the mandate until they make another choice in the next general election.

“Thus, together with the Jeram committee, division chiefs and a majority of Kuala Selangor Bersatu members, we have decided to quit Bersatu today August 8, 2020, to become independents.

“We will also continue to support Dr Mahathir’s leadership and struggle,” he said.

Tariq said he quit the party to support Dr Mahathir in combating corruption.

“We must by necessity take the path less travelled and that is beset with obstacles and thorns, suitably reflecting our struggle of dignity and integrity.

“The ends do not justify the means, particularly so as we aspire to greater heights for our people and our country.

“On this basis, and due to my personal beliefs, I hereby resign from the party effective immediately,” he said.

Mirroring Tariq’s view, Shaid added that Bersatu has strayed from its original objective of fighting “kleptocracy” by now choosing to work with politicians rejected by voters at GE14 in 2018.

He also blamed Muhyiddin for the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan federal government.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir announced the formation of a new Malay party to take on the current Perikatan Nasional government.

The name of the party has not been decided yet and they will wait for approval from the Registrar of Societies, he said at a press conference at the Al Bukhary Foundation on Friday.

“We are forming a new party. This party will uphold the values of Bersatu when it was formed. We will fight corruption relentlessly,” Dr Mahathir said.

Mukhriz Mahathir, Maszlee Malik, Amiruddin Hamzah, Marzuki Yahya and Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman were expelled from the party, along with Dr Mahathir, for sitting with the opposition when Parliament convened on May 18.

They subsequently lost their legal challenge to their expulsion. – August 8, 2020.