Voters won’t want PH to work with Bersatu again, says Amirudin

Amirudin Shari said the sentiments of grassroots members must be taken into account before any collaboration between PH and Bersatu is possible. (Bernama pic)

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Pakatan Harapan chairman Amirudin Shari has played down a suggestion that the coalition become allies with Bersatu before the next general election.

Amirudin said PH voters would not be keen about the coalition allying with Bersatu again considering the Muhyiddin Yassin-led party’s role in the Sheraton Move in February 2020, which led to the collapse of the PH government.

He said any collaboration between PH and Bersatu was not up to coalition leaders alone as grassroots members’ sentiments must be taken into account.

“Bersatu made us suffer a lot after the 14th general election. Their decision (to leave the government) collapsed our whole plan of reforms for the country and we now have to start from scratch.

“(The decision for PH to work with Bersatu) is not just between (PH chairman) Anwar Ibrahim, Azmin Ali and Muhyiddin. We have to consider the voters’ feelings and sentiments after being victimised in the Sheraton Move,” said the Selangor menteri besar after an event at Dewan Raja Muda Musa here today.

Bersatu was a PH component from 2016 to 2020.

The Sheraton Move saw Bersatu leaving PH to form a new government with PAS, Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and a handful of PKR defectors, including Azmin.

Yesterday, former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said PH should be able to forge some form of alliance with Bersatu since it is now able to work with Umno.

The former PKR and DAP member said Bersatu was simply a breakaway party of Umno and should be “equally palatable” to PH.

Zaid also said PH could let Azmin take over as menteri besar of Selangor, which he described as being “the prized takeaway”.

Amirudin said Zaid’s proposal was feasible, but maintained that PH had its own strategies for the next general election.

He said PH has become stronger in Selangor since the state election in August last year, which saw the coalition losing its supermajority in the state assembly.

“We hope that with the momentum we’ve created as the state government in the last six months, we will be able to regain some seats in the next state election,” he said.

Separately, Amirudin said Selat Klang assemblyman Abdul Rashid Asari’s decision to support him was a sign that Bersatu’s leadership was in turmoil.

He said Rashid’s move was unexpected and “very sudden”, believing that this was because of internal tussles within the Bersatu leadership.