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PETALING JAYA: Ahmad Shabery Cheek, a member of the Supreme Council of Umno, says that the PPBM push for more non-bumiputera members to join the party could be due to former PKR leaders joining the party.
In a comment to former PKR Vice President Mohamed Azmin Ali and “his PKR friends,” Shabery said this group may want PPBM to be like PKR.
PPBM, by opening its membership to people of all races, would make it difficult to unify with Umno, he said.
“It would be easier for PPBM to partner with PKR as both parties have the same membership model. Perhaps this was the reason why Azmin and his friends joined PPBM. They missed PKR, ”he said in a statement today.
Shabery added that while PPBM wanted to be a multiracial party, Umno will always remain a Malaysia-based party.
“In the past, reunification between Semangat 46 (a branch of Umno) and Umno was easy because both parties were only open to Malaysian members and bumiputera,” he said.
“Similarly with PKR, which was formed after Parti Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia came together because they both had a similar composition of multiracial members.”
PPBM Chairman Muhyiddin Yassin announced last week that the party would open a new chapter for non-Malaysian members, who could then take up leadership positions. Currently, the party allows non-Malays to join the party as associate members, but they cannot hold leadership positions.
Political analysts have suggested that the move could be a step toward PPBM by broadening its voter base to compete against Umno and PKR.
