THE anti-party hopping law is the only thing that has saved Bersatu post-GE15 (15th General Election) and the party should therefore be thankful to Barisan Nasional (BN), said UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Puad Zarkashi.
Puad was rebutting Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s earlier contention that Perikatan Nasional (PN) is the sole coalition entitled to speak about principles because it chose to remain as the opposition.
Reminding Wan Saiful that PN comprised “frogs” who had deserted UMNO, Puad said it is the anti-party hopping legislation that is keeping the coalition intact.
“The anti-party hopping law saved PN. Without the law, many PN MPs would have switched parties. Furthermore, many PN MPs are also former party hoppers,” he said in a Facebook post.
“Therefore, PN should thank BN. The anti-party hopping law was passed and enacted under a BN prime minister.”
According to Puad, this was proven when PN was unable to prevent Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which consists of MPs who are Bersatu members, from supporting Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairperson Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister.
The anti-party hopping law, gazetted on Sept 6, was a key component of the confidence and supply agreement (CSA) inked by former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration with PH.
Meanwhile, Puad also mentioned that BN’s participation in the “unity government” is based on “trust”.
However, he claimed that PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had accepted BN’s support for his administration while harbouring a vendetta and had every intention to “kill UMNO”.
“This is why Muhyiddin could be the prime minister for just 17 months. It’s his own fault. His ‘scheme of things’ failed,” Puad said sarcastically. – Dec 1, 2022
Main photo credit: Utusan
