INTERVIEW | It started with small beginnings for Bersatu after the dismissal of several Umno leaders, including Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the deputy prime minister at the time.

Bersatu was born out of the dominance of Umno in BN at that time, in anticipation of the 14th general election. What happened next is history.

The 'new kid on the block' celebrates their second anniversary today, marking their historic win in GE14 as part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

"We have come a long way to this day. I would say we're slightly more than setahun jagung (newbie).

"We are now a second-year newbie, and slightly bigger than we were then," Muhyiddin said in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini and Sinar Harian.

The Bersatu president reminisced on the early days of the party's formation – having a small number of members who lacked experience in politics, but were interested to join Bersatu to support Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyiddin and other leaders at that time.

"Alhamdullilah, this is a historic moment for Bersatu in celebrating our second anniversary.

"In such a short time, I can say that we have done well.

"That is to say, it is not only to build a party to fight for the country, but also the cooperation with all the parties in Harapan, we have succeeded in forming a new government,” he said.

However, he is well aware that they cannot take things for granted with the new mandate given by the people.

"It is extraordinary for Bersatu to achieve this in two years.

"To put it simply, we are grateful for our achievements, but there are still many things that we have yet to fulfil," he said.

When asked about Bersatu's position, Muhyiddin stressed that the party has proven that it is not racist.

"Bersatu works closely with other parties and with that, we have managed to attract the support not only from the Malays and bumiputera – people of all races were supporting Pakatan Harapan," he added.

Cautious about ex-Umno members

Muhyiddin also said that although many members from Umno are showing their interest to join Bersatu, he is worried that they might bring internal problems to the party.

“Umno members have realised that their party has failed them and betrayed the Malays and Islam. That’s why senior leaders and members left and joined Bersatu instead.

"However, we have to be careful because we do not want to be misconstrued (by others) when we accept those from the party we all fought against.

"Bersatu is well aware of that sentiment," he said.

According to Muhyiddin, some of the former Umno members who joined the new party showed sincerity, but Bersatu will continuously monitor the situation.

"I think they were disappointed with the leadership in Umno and refused to accept the party anymore.

“When they saw a new leadership in Bersatu, they believed the party could lead the way and achieve what Umno failed to.

"Most importantly, we do not want to have such prejudice against them.

"If they are truly sincere about joining Bersatu and they do not bring such culture which we know is rejected by the people, then we are ready to consider their application to join us”.

This interview was jointly conducted by Haris Mohd, Al-Abror Mohd Yusuf, Norman Goh, and Mauricia Grace.

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