Bersatu rift widens with veep's exit call to Muhyiddin
Bersatu vice-president Ronald Kiandee’s open call for party president Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation has exposed a widening rift with a faction said to support party deputy president Hamzah Zainudin.
Various party leaders at the central and division levels today promptly issued statements responding to Ronald, with critics pointing to the Sabah Bersatu chief’s “failure” in leading Perikatan Nasional at the last Sabah state polls.
Ronald’s call, however, received support from 14 Johor Bersatu division chiefs who, in a joint statement issued by Tanjung Piai Bersatu chief Musa Khamis, declared a loss of confidence in Muhyiddin.
The group had previously demanded Muhyiddin remove Johor Bersatu chief Dr Sahruddin Jamal, who stepped down as Johor PN chief in the wake of the Pagoh MP’s resignation as PN chief effective Jan 1.
Tun Faisal pans ‘desperate attitude’
Leading the objections against Ronald, Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz claimed that the Beluran MP’s statement reflects a “desperate attitude” following actions recently initiated by the party’s disciplinary board against parties who have long challenged party institutions.
“In reality, he should resign over his failure to lead Sabah Bersatu, which was among the main causes of the poor performance of the party’s candidates.
“He failed to present a strategic plan and to initiate early preparations for the general election, and to date has not submitted any written post-election report (post-mortem),” said Tun Faisal.
In the last Sabah election, PN, through Bersatu and PAS, had contested in 42 out of 73 seats, but only won one through the latter’s candidate Aliakbar Gulasan in Karambunai.
Hypocritical finger-pointing
Bersatu supreme council member Yazid Yunus said attempts to point fingers at Muhyiddin are hypocritical and irresponsible.
“Muhyiddin built Bersatu from the ground up, led the party to become the backbone of the federal government, and steered the country through the most severe health and economic crisis in modern history.
“These contributions and sacrifices cannot be erased by the failures of certain individuals in the Sabah arena,” said the Lepar assemblyperson, in reference to Muhyiddin’s stint as prime minister during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
From the youth wing, Balik Pulau Bersatu division chief Harris Idaham Rashid noted that the party lost all seats it contested in the Sabah polls and that most of its candidates forfeited their deposits.
“As the youth wing of Bersatu, we want to see a united leadership team working together to achieve major success for the party.
“If there are parties attempting to destabilise the party through various plans to pursue certain agendas, we are of the view that disciplinary action should be taken rather than allowing the party’s integrity to be undermined from within,” said Harris, the wing’s information chief.
Echoing the calls, Bersatu associate wing vice-chief R Sri Sanjeevan stressed that contrary to Ronald’s statement, party disciplinary action is not a tool to silence dissent.
“It is a mechanism to safeguard discipline and the party’s survival.
“Without discipline, Bersatu would collapse due to internal sabotage and politics driven by vendetta,” he said.
Additionally, Bersatu Young Women chief Nurul Ezzati Azmi said any views regarding the leadership should be discussed through proper and discreet party channels.
“As the young women’s wing, we choose to strengthen, not destabilise; to support, not to pressure - because a party under test requires calm, not noise,” she said.
Safeguarding Muhyiddin’s position
In making his call, Ronald said that the board's summons against Hamzah gave the public the impression that Bersatu is fixated on safeguarding Muhyiddin's position rather than on the issues it champions.
The Bersatu Disciplinary Board has, for the second time, summoned Hamzah, who is abroad, to attend a hearing scheduled for Feb 12, based on four separate complaints - three dated Feb 5 and the first dated Sept 30 last year.
Besides Hamzah, the board is also planning to summon at least five division chiefs on Feb 12, following complaints over their alleged links to statements said to have tarnished the party’s reputation.
A line-up of Bersatu elected representatives, said to be aligned with Hamzah, were notably absent from a gathering at Muhyiddin’s residence on Sunday.
