Mukhriz: Bizarre for Bersatu to join Muafakat

TANJUNG MALIM: Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir has described Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's (Bersatu) decision to join the Muafakat Nasional (Muafakat Nasional) coalition as bizarre.

The Jerlun MP and former Bersatu deputy president said he was curious to see the impact of the decision in the current political scene.

“Usually, the Prime Minister is the chairman in the coalition.

"Considering Bersatu is the newest among the other two parties in Muafakat, we are not sure if they will appoint Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the coalition chairman," he told reporters after a meet-and-greet session with the independent candidate in Slim state by-election, Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, at the Arked Mara here Saturday (Aug 15).

It was reported earlier that Bersatu had agreed to join Muafakat for a grand coalition.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Bersatu president, said the decision was made after several discussions with the top leadership of parties within the Perikatan-led government.

Mukhriz said he was told that Umno had refused to be part of Perikatan.

"All this while in Parliament they called themselves the Perikatan-led government. But Perikatan is not registered and Umno did not want to be part of it.

"We are unsure about PAS, ” he said.

“Therefore, Bersatu's decision to join the Muafakat coalition is bizarre," he added.

On a separate matter, Mukhriz said they would have to change strategy to campaign during the by-election due to the movement control order (MCO).

"Since the by-election is held during MCO and there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) to be followed, we cannot do massive gatherings anymore.

"So now our strategy is to meet as many people in Slim as possible," he said.