Ramakrishnan dismisses claim about 1,000 Johor DAP members joining Bersatu

JOHOR BARU: A Johor DAP leader has rubbished claims that 1,000 members of the opposition party are joining Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

State DAP vice-chairman Dr S. Ramakrishnan described the claim by Segamat MP Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar, who heads Bersatu’s affiliates wing, as fictitious and false.

“The statement made by Edmund claiming that he received applications to join his party by 1,000 former Johor DAP members ... is completely unfounded,” he said in a statement here on Tuesday (Jan 18).

Ramakrishnan, who is Bekok assemblyman, claimed that the leader of this former DAP faction had only listed eight branches, which includes several new branches and small old branches.

He noted that out of these eight branches, one branch leader had already dissociated herself from the other branches and remains with the party.

Ramakrishnan said other than the committee members of these seven branches, the other members were inactive.

On Sunday (Jan 16), an online portal reported Edmund, who is also Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, as saying that Bersatu’s associate wing has more than 30,000 active members.

He added that Bersatu had recently received applications from more than 1,000 former Johor DAP members, proving that “people see our party as offering a new approach”.

He said that he expected Bersatu’s associate wing to have 50,000 members by the first quarter of 2022.