SHAH ALAM - Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's (Bersatu) 2024 Annual General Assembly which concluded last Sunday, is seen as a success in fostering unity among the party's leaders and grassroots members, addressing the divisions and factions that arose during past leadership elections.
The unity within the party has grown stronger after former Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, was appointed as the secretary-general, sharing the same platform with the party's president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and his deputy Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
Bersatu also provided an opportunity for former Umno Putrajaya deputy division chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz to take on the role of the new information chief.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Associate Professor Dr Mazlan Ali said this latest development suggests that allegations of division within Bersatu following the recent party election were untrue.
However, Mazlan did not deny the fact that differing views existed among leaders, not just within Bersatu but also among other parties, including Umno, Pas, PKR and DAP.
Mazlan observed that the unity among Bersatu leaders has strengthened, enabling them to focus on how Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional (PN) can position themselves as an alternative government to the Madani government.
"What is most important is that Bersatu and PN leaders who are Members of Parliament must debate wisely, provide constructive suggestions, critique the government based on facts and avoid repeating the mistakes of previous opposition coalitions, such as failing to prepare an alternative budget.
"The opposition bloc should have announced an alternative budget before the tabling of the 2025 Budget, allowing the public to compare it with what is proposed by the Madani government," he told Sinar.
Meanwhile, O2 Research chief researcher Anis Anwar Suhaimi said Muhyiddin’s approach of embracing all factions, including supporters of Azmin, Hamzah and those who lost during the elections, has strengthened unity among Bersatu supporters.
However, Anis said Bersatu's goal of reaching one million members by the end of next year will face significant hurdles, as most of its current members were fence-sitters or individuals disillusioned with their former parties, including ex-Umno supporters.
He said the victory of a political party in elections did not solely depend on its membership numbers.
"Instead, it depends on how well they can engage the broader public and non-partisan groups to share the same aspirations and struggles as Bersatu.
"This was one of the factors contributing to Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th General Election (GE14)," he added.