NS Bersatu leaders’ Umno mentality forced closure

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 – Just how bad is the problem for the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in Negeri Sembilan.

It is rare enough for any major political party, let alone one is that part of the ruling coalition, to come out and announce the dissolution of whole divisions, but for the same to happen for a whole state chapter? That’s unheard of.

But that is exactly what happened yesterday, with Bersatu President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announcing the dissolution of Negeri Sembilan Bersatu at a specially-convened press conference.

Muhyiddin told reporters that the party was forced to close the chapter over issues it had with state party leaders.

“The reason being, because we have a lot of problems there. Previously, we appointed someone and they did a lot of things, so Negeri Sembilan is the only division or state which has a lot of problems, and though we want to make changes, there are issues with the constitution,” he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.

RoS advised on dissolution

He added that the party supreme council had agreed to a few amendments to its constitution in order to dissolve the whole state chapter, and start afresh.

The dissolution affects all PPBM divisions in the state, including those in the youth and women’s wings.

Muhyiddin, who is also home minister, said they had received advice from the Registrar of Societies (RoS), on how to resolve the issue of dissolving the state chapter.

He did not elaborate on the problems the party was facing with its leaders in Negeri Sembilan.

Negeri Sembilan a troubled spot for Bersatu

There had been trouble in Negeri Sembilan since early last year, when a founding member of the party, who hailed from the state decided to quit citing power-grabbing and other issues taking place in Bersatu.

Former Teluk Kemang Umno division chief, Kamarulzaman Habibur Rahman, who led a group of rebel Umno division chiefs against then party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had been playing a key role in the central leadership, but was then offered to lead the party in Negeri Sembilan instead. He declined the offer and later quit, taking a number of his supporters with him.

Rais, Eddin to take charge of NS Bersatu

Meanwhile, former Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Rais Yatim, who quit Umno to join Bersatu after the 14th general election, has been chosen to rebuild Negeri Sembilan Bersatu.

He told the media that he and Kuala Pilah MP Eddin Syazlee Shith, who is also deputy communications and multimedia minister, have been given the mandate by the party leadership.

Among their tasks will be identifying candidates to head the eight divisions in the state.

“We will begin with getting the feedbacks from all the eight divisions in the state on how we can restructure the party at the division level,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Rebuilding in three months

Rais added that he hoped to complete the rebuilding of Negeri Sembilan Bersatu in the next three months.

He also called for Bersatu leaders not to repeat the mistakes of Umno or they too will be rejected by the people.

Stop behaving like Umno warlords, warns Rais

“These leaders, especially division chiefs, should not behave like warlords or they would be no different than when they were in Umno.

“The Negri Sembilan Pribumi was so weak that the leadership had no choice but to dissolve it. Some were behaving as if they were still in Umno.

“Now, we have to start all over again because we need to restore the faith of the people in the party,” he told reporters after meeting Bersatu members.

– NMT