Bandar Tun Razak Bersatu said today that it hoped its chief Mohd Shahni Ismail's speech at the party annual general assembly – where he had, among others, called for government resources to be used for party purposes – would not be misinterpreted.

"I hope none would misinterpret what happened between party members, as no good can come out of misinterpreting the debate motion brought by the Federal Territories Bersatu information chief, who is also the Bandar Tun Razak Bersatu chief," the division said in a statement. 

The statement was issued by Bandar Tun Razak Bersatu information chief Ahmad Bastari Muslim.

Ahmad Bastari also defended Shahni's speech, saying: "His statement was consistent with the sustainability of the party.

"His statement was not opportunistic in nature, but was merely thinking about political survival in this millennium," he said.

'Democracy being maintained'

Ahmad Bastari also noted that the speech had captured the Bersatu leadership's attention, including criticisms.

"However, in the art of new politics, views can be aired openly, and it is evidence that democracy is being maintained and the mindset those struggling for Bersatu are changing," he said.

During the Bersatu annual general assembly on Sunday, Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman singled out the Federal Territories Bersatu representative for demanding government contracts and positions, and for claiming that he had been promised these by a minister.

An exasperated Syed Saddiq slammed the delegate and warned that this could court the attention of the MACC.

Shortly after Syed Saddiq's speech, Bersatu vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, in a veiled jab, said that the view that the party should avoid using government resources to retain power was "stupid."

However, Bersatu Youth leaders later came out to denounce Rashid and defend Syed Saddiq's position.

Bersatu division leaders who were slighted by Syed Saddiq's criticism have since discussed his ouster.

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