'Unscheduled' Bersatu supreme council meeting postponed at 11th hour

PETALING JAYA: The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia supreme council meeting, which was supposed to take place on Monday (May 11), has been deferred at the eleventh hour.

It was learnt the Bersatu executive secretary Kapt (R) Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya sent out a message, informing all attendees of the postponement.

Suhaimi said in the letter that a new date would be announced in due course and that any inconvenience due to the postponement was regrettable.

This came following information being circulated that two of the party's top office-bearers were not among those invited to the meeting.

The two were Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

Their omission from the list had led to speculation that all is not well and something may be brewing within the party.

Earlier, sources said the meeting was to take place at the University Malaya Alumni Association in Kuala Lumpur around noon.

Prior to this, Suhaimi was said to have sent out a WhatsApp message to party top office-bearers for the "unscheduled" meeting.

The list of attendees included party president, vice-presidents, Srikandi (Wanita) chief, Armada (Youth) chief, secretary-general, treasurer-general, information chief and supreme council members.

However, no agenda was attached in the invitation.

When contacted, Mukhriz said: "No, I was not invited".

Suhaimi, when asked why Dr Mahathir and Mukhriz were left out, said: "I do not know the reason behind their omission," he said.

Former Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahya warned that such a meeting was "invalid".

"According to the party constitution, only the chairman can call MPT (supreme council) meetings," he said.

Attempts to contact Dr Mahathir and other supreme council members were not successful.

On Feb 24, when Dr Mahathir resigned as prime minister and Bersatu chairman, a majority of party supreme council members agreed to back president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the eighth Prime Minister and to leave Pakatan Harapan.

This led to Dr Mahathir rebuking Muhyiddin, saying he had no right to do so and had divided the party.

Both sides continued to trade barbs even after Muhyiddin had formed the Perikatan Nasional government with Umno and PAS on March 1.

On Saturday (May 9), Mukhriz claimed that Dr Mahathir never agreed with Bersatu’s decision to leave Pakatan, denying a statement by Bersatu information chief Datuk Radzi Jidin that Dr Mahathir had backtracked at the last minute.

Mukhriz said Dr Mahathir had stated he was not comfortable to cooperate with Umno during a previous supreme council meeting, which was said to be the "tipping point" before the party’s departure from Pakatan.

At present, the faction, led by Dr Mahathir and backed by Mukhriz and Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, is said to be siding with Pakatan.