‘No’ to ‘parasite’ Bersatu, DAP and PKR, says Puteri Umno head

KUALA LUMPUR – “No DAP, no PKR, and no Bersatu” – the clearest signal yet from Puteri Umno head Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan on the party leadership’s stance as it prepares itself from the next general election.

Speaking during her policy speech at the Puteri Umno general assembly here, Zahida said that the party's objective is to be the government led by Umno and Barisan Nasional.

“We want Umno to not only be a contributor to the nation, but be elevated to a better position while doing so. We do not want to be on the stage only as a background singer.

“This is because Umno is a big party and must be the major player in determining the policy and future of this country,” she said.

In slamming Bersatu, Zahida described Umno’s earlier political alignment with its splinter party as being due to its need to contribute to the country’s betterment.

She said Umno had cooperated with Bersatu despite it having been founded to “destroy” Umno. 

“Then they went on to snatch our seats, whereby (their) power was obtained not through a proper democratic process but by accepting those who defected (from Umno).

“They stole our leaders and members and continued to poach our grassroots in the kampung. For Umno, such actions are not those of a friend, but of an opponent,” she said.

Bersatu, she said, rose from a seed derived from the Umno tree.

“It survived because it had received fertiliser from DAP and PKR. This is why the original Bersatu members never advocated for ‘no DAP, no PKR’,” she said.

“Their original seats were won due to the contributions by DAP and PKR.

“For Umno, ‘no DAP, no PKR’ is indisputable. We now add one more – ‘no DAP, no PKR, no Bersatu’,” she said.

Zahida stressed that Bersatu needed Umno as its ‘fertiliser’ to thrive.

“Does Umno need to be a fertiliser to a parasitic tree that feeds off us and will surely kill us in the future?” she asked.

Zahida said that Bersatu’s politics, which she described as the “scheme of things”, was a doctrine and ideology that allows the minority to dominate the majority, in the end “killing off” the majority.

“The parasite does not just grow on one tree, it will thrive on several trees before finally killing off the original tree,” she added.

Assessing the people's sentiment on the present Perikatan Nasional government, Zahida quoted former United States president Abraham Lincoln, who said: “Democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

“But today, people mock the quote by saying: ‘the government fools the people, buys the people, and offs the people’.”

In a sharp retort towards Umno leaders who favoured continued cooperation with Bersatu, Zahida warned that the Puteri wing will openly voice their displeasure should these leaders fail to address and fix their stance on the issue.

“If our own leaders, whom we have supported and sacrificed a lot for, continue to mock and ridicule our party, they should be known as the ‘Traitor Cluster’, since they like to label us as clusters.

“We do not want any of our leaders either to continue to work with those from the Traitor Cluster,” she added. – The Vibes, March 27, 2021