KUALA LUMPUR – It appears there is truth to speculations that Bersatu was lobbying for the currently vacant deputy prime minister’s post to be given to the party.
This is spelt out in minutes of a Bersatu Youth meeting chaired by its chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal that took place on April 16, that highlighted some of the intrinsic discussions within the party.
The main agenda of the meeting had focused on the party’s humiliating outing at the Johor election, where it only secured two of the 56 seats on offer.
According to the document sighted by The Vibes, Wan Fayhsal, in addressing the 28 meeting attendees, had said that the party must demand that the deputy prime minister come from Bersatu.
The sought-after position has been up for grabs since Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed prime minister on August 20 last year, with Bersatu rumoured to be heavily pushing for the post since.
Ismail Sabri instead opted to appoint four senior ministers, including two from Bersatu and one from Umno, ostensibly to appease both parties.
It was said that appointing a Bersatu deputy prime minister would not have sat well with Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who led a group of over a dozen party MPs to withdraw support for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in early August last year.
With Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s waning influence in Bersatu, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin had been tipped as the front runner to be Ismail Sabri’s deputy, although this has yet to materialise.
Apart from losing the prime minister’s post, Bersatu has also seen a number of high-profile members quit the party recently, including Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who left to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia on May 26.
The April 16 meeting minutes also all but confirms Zuraida had been going rogue in Bersatu much earlier prior to her departure, with Wan Fayhsal demanding back then, that her ministerial post be returned to the party, and offering himself to the position.
The quota must immediately be handed to a more qualified member from Bersatu. Senator KAN (Ketua Armada Negara or Bersatu Youth chief) is prepared to take on the quota.
B40s incapable of contesting in elections
Focusing on the Johor election result, Wan Fayhsal supposedly told Bersatu Youth leaders that the poor outing shows that the “Abah” aura prominently carried by Muhyiddin previously is no longer relevant.
He added that the state polls also indicate that Perikatan Nasional (PN) does not appear to have the strength or wave to attract voters to its side.
This serves as a damning assessment of the party currently struggling hard to reposition itself as a viable alternative for Malaysian voters.
Separately, the minutes also noted Bersatu Youth exco member Harris Idaham Rashid as saying that many of PN’s candidates in Johor were still too raw.
“According to him, most candidates who are among the B40 community are also incapable to contest as candidates,” the document said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, the Bersatu Youth information chief Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir was noted by the meeting minutes to have said that the party has lost its identity.
He also expressed disappointment at certain leaders whom he said had confused members from the party’s original struggles. – The Vibes, July 1, 2022
