Amirudin: PH voters will not want coalition to work with Bersatu ahead of GE16

Selangor Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari dismissed calls for the coalition to work with Bersatu before the next general election.

(NST) – This, he said, was considering the sentiments of PH voters who still feel disappointed about the political manoeuvring during the Sheraton Move in February 2020, which led to the collapse of the PH federal government.

“Bersatu has made us suffer a lot, especially after GE14. Their decision (to leave the government) had collapsed the whole plan for reforms in the country and we had to work from scratch.

“So, it (the decision for PH to work with Bersatu) is not about a leader-to-leader thing. (Datuk Seri) Azmin Ali to (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, to (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Yassin. It’s about the supporters and voters of PH.

“We have to think about their feelings after being victimised due to that (Sheraton) move,” said Amirudin after attending a breaking of fast with people from the education sector at Dewan Raja Muda Musa, Seksyen 7 Shah Alam tonight.

Bersatu was a PH component from 2016 to 2020.

The Sheraton Move saw Bersatu leaving PH to form a new government with Pas, Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and various PKR defectors, including Azmin.

Yesterday, it was reported that Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said PH should be able to become an ally with Bersatu seeing how it can now work with Umno.

Zaid had said Bersatu was simply a breakaway party of Umno and should be “equally palatable” to PH.

Zaid further said that PH might allow Azmin to take over as Selangor’s menteri besar, describing it as “the prized takeaway.”

Amirudin said Zaid’s proposition was plausible, but PH has plans for the upcoming general election.

He said PH has grown stronger in Selangor since the state election in August last year when the coalition lost its supermajority in the state assembly.

“We hope that with the momentum we’ve created as the state government in the last six months, we will be able to regain some seats in the next state election,” he told reporters.

Separately, Amirudin said Selat Klang assemblyman Abdul Rashid Asari’s choice to support him indicated that Bersatu’s leadership was in disarray.

He described Rashid’s departure as unexpected, saying it was the result of internal squabbles among the Bersatu leadership.