Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, who left Umno last month, has joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
He submitted his membership form officially to Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir in the presence of the party’s President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the top leadership of Bersatu at a media conference after a meeting of the party’s top leadership council.
The former Kelantan Umno chief, known informally as Tok Pa, also received the party’s membership card from Mahathir.
Commenting on the former Umno Supreme Council member’s participation in the party, Mahathir said it was made voluntarily and not at the invitation of the Bersatu.
“I am very happy because we received the membership from a former Umno leader. We had given time to him to become an independent Member of Parliament and after we had observed his stand, we agreed that he qualified to be a Bersatu member,” he said.
Mustapa, who is also the Member of Parliament for Jeli, announced he is leaving Umno on Sept 18 after serving the party for 40 years as he felt that Umno’s approach was no longer in line with the principles of his political struggles.
Asked whether there would be more Umno members joining Bersatu, Mahathir replied briefly: “We will see.”
Meanwhile, Mustapa who was the former Minister of International Trade and Industry, said his decision to become a Bersatu member was made after making an observation for several weeks as an Independent Member of Parliament and looking at the current political development.
He said that the platform of Bersatu’s struggles appeared to be capable of giving him a bigger role to look after the interests of his constituency in Jeli particularly, and Kelantan in general.
“I wish to record my appreciation to Tun Dr Mahathir and (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin and the Bersatu leadership lineup for accepting me into the party,” he said.
He also said he hoped to help the government implement the agenda to empower Bumiputeras and a more inclusive economic plan.
With Mustapa joining the party, Bersatu now has 14 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.
Besides Mustapa, Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Bukit Gantang MP Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, Labuan MP Rozman Isli, Kimanis MP Anifah Aman and Bagan Serai MP Noor Azmi Ghazali also left Umno following the May 9 general election.
While Rozman has joined Parti Warisan Sabah, the other four have yet to join any party.
Umno currently has 48 MPs, down from 54, immediately after the May 9 general election.
Meanwhile, Mahathir announced that the Bersatu general assembly had been scheduled for Dec 28 to 30.
This was decided in the two-and-a-half hour meeting which also discussed efforts to improve the party’s membership system.
Mahathir also announced the setting-up of eight Bersatu divisions in Negri Sembilan.