THREE out of four Bersatu members in Kedah will join the new party formed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said former Bersatu state deputy chairman Anuar Abdul Hamid.

Anuar told The Malaysian Insight they are from 11 out of 15 party divisions in Kedah and most of them are leaders, adding they had already announced their resignations.

“Most of those who made the announcement (to leave) consist of division heads, wing leaders and committee members.

“Although the main leaders have left the party, they represent grassroots members,” Anuar, who was recently sacked from Bersatu, told The Malaysian Insight.

He expects the same to happen in the remaining four divisions – Baling, Padang Terap, Kuala Kedah and Pendang – before the end of this month.

The recent departures in the 11 divisions involved leaders and members from notable divisions such as Langkawi, Jerlun and Kubang Pasu.

Langkawi is the home base of sacked Bersatu co-founder and chairman Dr Mahathir, while Jerlun was led by Bersatu Kedah chairman Mukhriz Mahathir. Kubang Pasu was led by MP Amiruddin Hamzah who was also axed from Bersatu.

The sackings followed the split in Bersatu between those aligned to Dr Mahathir and president Muhyiddin Yassin in the fallout after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in late February.

This week, the Bersatu Pokok Sena division was also left in the lurch after 11 of its 19 branches quit on Wednesday, led by former deputy division chief Mohd Tazidi Awang Kechik.

On whether the 11 Bersatu divisions in Kedah are now dissolved, Anuar said dissolution of divisions can only be decided by the party’s supreme council.

“Only the supreme council decides on dissolution. But when all the leaders resign, the division is effectively paralysed,” he said, adding that Bersatu has more than 40,000 members in Kedah.

The branches under the Merbok division, which Anuar led, are now paralysed although they still exist on paper, he said as an example.

The Merbok division has 19 branches of which 18 branch heads are backing Dr Mahathir. This has left the branches inactive.

Exit Bersatu, enter Pejuang

Anuar is confident that Dr Mahathir’s new party, Pejuang, will attract more Bersatu members.

While Pejuang is still in the process of being registered, he said there are calls for a roadshow to promote the new party and invite more members.

“In Bersatu’s early days, nobody knew who we were. But now we have some standing and people know us, so moving to Pejuang and attracting more people will not be so difficult.

“I am confident that three quarters of Bersatu members (in Kedah) will join Pejuang.

“Using social media as a gauge, many expressed support after it was announced that Pejuang wanted to register (as a party),” he added.

It’s about positions

The Kedah Bersatu leadership, meanwhile, is adamant the party is not affected by the defections to Pejuang.

Those leaving are painted as a disgruntled lot who held no positions or lost in party elections.

New Kedah Bersatu chairman Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah told Astro Awani the actual figure of those leaving was less than 30% of all party members in Kedah.

“Taking a closer look, I find that those leaving are already unhappy that they lost in party elections,” he said.

Suhaimi said he is receiving reports and figures from all Bersatu divisions on a weekly basis. Acting heads have been appointed in divisions where the chiefs have left.

“I’ve asked for reports to know how many are leaving the party.”

However, Anuar, the sacked deputy state chairman, disagrees with Suhaimi that those leaving are greedy for positions.

“It’s those staying with Bersatu who are crazy about positions. Bersatu is a government party now, they can get appointments to government-linked companies or as village council members.

“Those of us joining Pejuang will not get anything,” he said.

Dr Mahathir, when announcing Pejuang’s formation, said the new party will fight for the original principles that Bersatu had strayed from – to fight kleptocracy and corruption. – August 22, 2020.