KUALA LUMPUR: Former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo has officially joined Bersatu, citing his confidence in the sincerity of the party’s leadership in championing the Malay cause.
Taking a direct swipe at his former party, Khir said Umno is no longer dominant and has become merely a “supplement” to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
“Umno has clearly been replaced by Bersatu. Bersatu now holds far more parliamentary seats than Umno,” he told Astro Awani during the announcement of his Bersatu membership.
He also predicted that Umno would contest fewer seats than PKR in the upcoming general election.
“How can Umno be dominant when it contests fewer seats? If it continues hiding under PH’s armpit, it will forever be just a supplementary party,” he said.
Dr Khir stressed that he was not aiming for a major position but wanted to contribute to a party that can produce just and capable Malay leaders — something he believes Umno once did.
“I have no grand ambitions. I only want to use whatever energy I have left to help ensure the country’s leadership is in the hands of Malays who are fair to all,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to Umno and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for giving him the opportunity to serve as Selangor mentri besar but made it clear he no longer aligned with Umno’s direction.
“I truly appreciate the opportunities given to me by Umno, especially by Tun Dr Mahathir, but I cannot continue in a party that has lost its purpose,” he said.
The three-term Sungai Panjang assemblyman served as the 13th mentri besar of Selangor from 2000 to 2008.
In 2015, Dr Khir was sentenced to a year in jail on graft charges, after the Federal Court, on Sept 22, 2015, upheld his 12-month jail sentence and found him guilty of using his position to obtain two plots of land and a bungalow unit in Section 7, Shah Alam, eight years ago.
He was granted parole on March 29, 2016, after serving half of his one-year prison term for corruption and became a free man after signing his end-of-parole document at the Klang District Parole Office on May 27 that year.
