IPOH: Four months after being sacked by Bersatu, Sungai Manik assemblyman Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin has announced his entry into Parti Wawasan Negara (Wawasan).
Zainol Fadzi, who previously served as an independent assemblyman, also announced that all coordinators and activists of the Reset movement in Perak would join the new party as a platform to continue their political struggle.
According to him, the launch of Wawasan on June 13 in Tanah Merah, Kelantan provided clarity to Reset supporters and activists who had previously questioned the direction of the movement.
"Ya, all activists and coordinators at the division level will join Wawasan. Before this, many asked what party Reset was because it was only a movement, not a political party," he told Sinar Harian at a press conference here on Thursday (June 18).
"After Wawasan was officially announced, several divisions that were not with us previously began to show interest and give positive responses to join this party," he said.
Zainol Fadzi said the Reset movement in Perak began a day after he was sacked from Bersatu on Feb 13 and functioned as an informal platform to gather former members and supporters affected by the party's disciplinary action.
According to him, within four months, the movement successfully built a network across the state, leading to the establishment of Wawasan as a new political party.
Zainol Fadzi, who is also the Perak Reset chief coordinator, said that 20 pro-tem committees have been established out of 24 divisions in the state, while four other divisions still have active representatives and supporters.
He said the majority of divisions had also met the minimum membership requirement of between 100 and 120 people to enable the official establishment of a division.
"In fact, some divisions succeeded in gathering nearly 400 to 700 member names even though the original target was only around 120 people," he said.
"The response after the launch of Wawasan is very encouraging and I expect an increase in new applications from society, including the youth," he added.
He also revealed that several former Umno leaders and those from other political parties had contacted him personally to obtain information regarding Wawasan.
"There are Umno leaders who previously held positions at the division and state levels contacting me because they are attracted to Wawasan. They expressed interest to be together with this party," he said.
Commenting on the possibility of being appointed to lead Wawasan in Perak, Zainol Fadzi said he left the decision entirely to the central leadership.
According to him, the Reset group currently has four MPs and five assemblymen who are ready to strengthen the position of the new political party.
