Youth Exco Muhyiddin Rejected Zahid S Offer For Bersatu To Join Umno

---

Bersatu Youth exco Muzammil Ismail revealed that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had offered splinter party Bersatu to return to Umno
However, he said Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin did not agree
He told Malaysiakini this when asked about reports there were discussions between Bersatu and Muafakat Nasional (BN-PAS) to enable Bersatu to return to Umno in the near future
"Bersatu joining Umno is not true at all, even though Zahid did offer because he wanted to strengthen Malay parties
"But Muhyiddin and the Bersatu supreme council did not agree and it is better for us to be in our own parties because of different ideologies even though our foundation is the same that is a Malay and Muslim-dominant party
"The main need right now is to strengthen and unite Bersatu after our internal crisis. That is more accurate," said Muzammil
It was previously reported that political analyst Ahmad Atory Hussain (photo) claimed there were discussions between Bersatu and Muafakat Nasional on this matter
Atory said discussions had entered a serious stage as Zahid and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang were considering allowing Muhyiddin to continue as prime minister even if Bersatu returned to Umno
The analyst said the discussions became more serious when Muhyiddin and Bersatu were no longer overshadowed by its disputed chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad as well as disputed deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir
"Even though Muhyiddin was fired from Umno, there are many leaders who still support him because of the relationship between them
"I have also been made to understand that Bersatu joining Umno will be finalised at a Muafakat Nasional meeting even though there are efforts to make official the Perikatan Nasional cooperation
"On Muhyiddin’s position, if Hadi and Zahid agree to give him and Bersatu space to stay on as prime minister by consensus, I count that as a good decision for the sake of Malay and Muslim unity," he added
Umno supreme council member denies Zahid made offer to BersatuHowever, Umno supreme council member Armand Azha Abu Hanifah (photo) denied the claims that Zahid had offered Bersatu to rejoin Umno
He said the matter had never been brought up in their supreme council meetings so far
“First of all, as an Umno supreme council member, for now this matter has not been discussed in the supreme council meetings
“Any offer from Umno has to receive the agreement from a supreme council decision especially what has been said by the Bersatu leaders
“As the Bersatu leadership, they can ask their party president which is Muhyiddin about these questions playing in their minds,” Armand said when contacted by Malaysiakini
He said the main issue now is to strengthen all the parties within Perikatan Nasional (PN) which is now leading Putrajaya
Meanwhile, Bersatu supreme council member Rais Hussin (photo) said the Bersatu leadership was not informed of such discussions
"I do not have any knowledge about such discussions. The supreme council has not been informed of such an initiative
"Whether it is true and official, only time will tell. If it is true, the river will start flowing to the sea," he told Malaysiakini. - Mkini

---