BALIK PULAU – Umno’s Balik Pulau division claims Bersatu is on a mission to lure its members to join the party, and have been doing so for months now.
Umno Balik Pulau division head Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob said that although the schemes had previously been conducted covertly, the matter is now out in the open.
He claims the same is happening at most Umno divisions in the country, and is the main reason Umno and Bersatu relations have soured.
“Bersatu hurt us when it tried to attract Umno members secretly.
“Some offer help but ask our members to fill in the Bersatu form.
“Some of them met our branch head secretly, asking to organise programmes in the name of Bersatu.
“We found out about this after Umno members complained to us,” said Shah Headan at the Balik Pulau Market today.
Earlier this month, Umno’s Supreme Council announced it would not cooperate with Bersatu in the 15th general election (GE15).
It had said that the party would only align itself with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government until Parliament was dissolved.
The move follows a motion from 147 of Unmo’s 191 divisions in last year’s divisional meeting, urging for the party to withdraw its cooperation with Bersatu.
Headan, who is also former Teluk Bahang assemblyman, said that Umno Balik Pulau is currently focusing on strengthening ties with PAS through its Muafakat Nasional (MN), as was encouraged by the leadership.
“If there are programmes that we organise, we must invite the PAS leadership and their members to participate and work with us so that MN can be strengthened here,” he said.
He said the Umno Balik Pulau division is also ready to face a three-cornered fight in GE15, and is confident that Umno will wrest back the parliamentary seat as well as three other state assembly seats.
In GE14, Umno lost the party’s traditional Balik Pulau seat to PKR with a difference of 1,539 votes. – The Vibes, March 17, 2021
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