SHAH ALAM - Public support for the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is reportedly increasing despite six of its Members of Parliament (MPs) openly declaring support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the unity government.
Its Information Chief Datuk Razali Idris said people's support for the political coalition, which is also led by Pas, remains unaffected because voters are disappointed with the actions of the six involved MPs who betrayed the trust and votes given to them during the 15th General Election (GE15).
"Most of those who switched their support are newcomers to politics. When confronted with pressure and challenges, they hastily switch their support to Anwar in a bid to secure parliamentary allocations.
"However, in doing so, they seem to overlook that this automatic switch constitutes a betrayal of the support and votes bestowed upon them by the people during GE15," he said to Sinar Premium.
Razali made these remarks when responding to whether the actions of the six MPs would weaken Bersatu further and possibly render it ineffective in the lead-up to GE16.
The six Bersatu MPs were Datuk Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang); Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang); Zahari Kechik (Jeli); Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang); Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) and Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).
Further commenting, Razali also challenged the six MPs to resign and run under the ticket of another party in a by-election (PRK) to prove whether they still have solid voter support in their respective constituencies or not.
"They should test the extent of public support for them. Resign, then run again under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) ticket because they want to support Anwar or any other party to defend their seats," he added.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, on Monday, emphasised that the six Bersatu MPs who shifted their stance by openly expressing support for Anwar do not need to vacate their seats.
Johari said the important thing for the six MPs to do now is to declare in writing that they remained party members.
Meanwhile, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Perdana Centre, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics Lecturer Associate Professor Dr Mazlan Ali said that Bersatu would experience a decline in strength if an increasing number of its MPs openly pledged their support to the Prime Minister.
Mazlan also believed that more Bersatu MPs would declare support for Anwar because they cannot survive as opposition representatives without financial assistance from the party and the Federal Government.
"Perhaps that's why they believe that for the sake of the people and the voters they represent, the MPs have to make sacrifices by changing their support to the unity government.
"Thus, I see the rumours about the possibility of more Bersatu MPs switching support becoming a reality soon," he said.
However, Mazlan said the action of more Bersatu MPs shifting their support would not bury the party.