YOURSAY | ‘Mahathir is doing what he does best, divide and rule.’

'Happy to be where I am' - KJ on invitation to join Bersatu

DEX: Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin, since you are “quite happy” to remain in Umno after being invited to join Bersatu by its youth chief, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, how about being the first to apologise for the 1MDB scandal?

That will show what you are really made of.

Muruga: Syed Saddiq invited Khairy, his predecessor in the Youth and Sports Ministry, to “better position Bersatu as a centrist party for the Malay community”?

Are you sure about this, Syed Saddiq? Khairy was the one who first started the fire that the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) was "unconstitutional."

Ozzie Jo: Why wouldn't Khairy be happy in the company of the intellectually less endowed? With the likes of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the helm, wouldn't you opt to remain where all the simple ones are?

In the kingdom of the blind, as they say, the one-eyed man is king. It won't be long before he becomes top dog in the Umno cesspool.

The Fog of Life: Well, Khairy, I respect your decision although I don’t agree with it. You have a mountain to shovel in Umno if you want the party to sincerely implement the right values. I can’t help thinking that you will be forever struggling to keep your head above the excrement.

All the best. The new Malaysia ship has sailed. The Umno boat is beyond salvage. Even the vultures have declined the crumbs for fear of contamination.

But if Khairy is committed to the right values, please join Bersatu and help take Malaysia forward.

The country is crying out for leadership with integrity, intelligence and humility; zero tolerance of non-compliance, an unyielding commitment to ethical conduct and the rule of law, independence of institutions, and meritocracy in filling positions; equal rights for all, tolerance and respect for all races; as well as an end to using race and religion as political tools, cronyism and fat cat contracts, corruption and its sickening excesses, wastage and theft of the nation's wealth, and non-accountability for crimes.

Umno is totally bankrupt on the above values and can never deliver the "New Malaysia", even in the slightest degree.

You know that KJ, perhaps even better than most of us. Come over and help Malaysia excel in all the above and make us proud to be Malaysians again.

Evin K: Khairy’s possible exit will be the final nail in Umno’s coffin. Although it appears as if he’s going to give it one last go at the Umno presidency next term.

It’s clever of him. Should Khairy win, he inherits a once-powerful and still wealthy party.

Zahid won the last Umno election by a razor-thin margin, and Khairy’s got the best shot at the top post again.

Of course, this is all in hope that Umno isn’t beyond salvaging by then, which is the case for MCA and MIC now.

Anonymous 0123456789: I believe many Umno members concur with Khairy.

Not because they do not want ‘Malay unity’, but primarily because they cannot see themselves uniting under the patronage of Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom they see as the man solely responsible for the splintering of the Malays today.

Anonymous_85ea2381: Mahathir is going against the spirit of "New Malaysia". We voted Umno out. Now he wants them in. We cannot trust this old man anymore.

Anonymous_1550204262: Mahathir is doing what he does best, divide and rule.

He has broken PKR up by having deputy president Azmin Ali on a leash, and now he wants to be the dominant Malay party by virtue of every Malay joining his party.

So we have the sad scenario of Amanah, PKR and DAP working hard for the betterment of all Malaysians while Mahathir and his party are busy playing political games.

Dr M's invitation to join Bersatu 'reasonable', says Muhyiddin

Hearty Malaysian: So Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin believes that Mahathir’s invitation to Malay parties to join Bersatu is “reasonable”?

We elected Pakatan Harapan to become the government, not for it to invite Umno lawmakers to join through back door. It looks like Bersatu wants to be Umno 2.0.

Vent: This is either born out of desperation or magnanimity. Either way, this wouldn't have transpired without the sanction of Mahathir, who is incorrigibly too proud to invite the son-in-law of his hapless once-nemesis himself.

So while the old man's pride is left intact, Syed Saddiq swallows the ignominy of having been slighted by Khairy previously in extending Bersatu's invitation to him.

One can only assume it's an act of desperation, for the old man has no love lost for Khairy’s father-in-law at least.

Once in Bersatu, Mukhriz will be putty in Khairy’s hands when daddy isn't around anymore. However, judging by the old man's machinations and political stamina, he will not make his bow anytime soon.

We'll have to keep watching this space for the full denouement to play out. So the inevitable question now is: whither Anwar Ibrahim, or even Azmin?

Anonymous Malaysia 2018: Why just invite Umno and PAS members to join Bersatu? Why not invite any member of the opposition to join Harapan?

Or better still, all for Malaysians to join Harapan! That will be inclusive and will not raise doubts about any agenda.

The call for Malays to join Bersatu is highly suspicious, with several interpretations.

If Bersatu wishes to gain more MPs in its ranks, it should wait for the next election and boost its numbers in a legitimate way, through the front door.

It is not nice to "steal" MPs from another party! Theft is a crime, as Bersatu must know. Have they conveniently forgotten about the rule of law which he has emphasised many times? Play fair.

“Reasonable,” Muhyiddin? Sorry, I disagree.

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