KOTA BARU: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has received membership applications from some 3,000 Kelantan Umno members, said Kelantan Bersatu deputy chairman Datuk Sazmi Miah.
He said the group, which included branch chiefs and former village chiefs, were recruited by Jeli member of parliament Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, who recently left Umno for Bersatu.
Describing Mustapa as a hardworking leader, Sazmi said he expected more Umno members to follow in the footsteps of the former international trade and industry minister.
“We (Bersatu) cannot be exclusive and place restrictions... otherwise, our party will not grow and remain small.
“We have opposed Umno from the start but not all of their members are bad apples. In fact, there are Umno MPs who were not directly involved (in corruption and misdeeds),” Sazmi told the NSTP when contacted today.
He also made it clear that Bersatu, through a special committee, would peruse and screen membership applications from former Umno members and leaders.
The defections come against a backdrop of protests by Kelantan Bersatu grassroots members, who urged the party leadership to refrain from accepting elected representatives from Umno who belittled and opposed Bersatu in the past.
Sazmi, who is also Machang Bersatu division chief, however, said the party must remain open to the idea of accepting Umno MPs and state assemblymen to strengthen the party.
He also assured Bersatu members that the party would not accept Umno members without vetting them for graft and other offences first.
“MPs or elected representatives (from Umno) can only contest in the elections at least a year after they join Bersatu. We want them to understand the party’s culture first before we determine whether they are qualified to contest or not,” he added.