Bersatu here to stay, says Azmin

Bersatu secretary-general Azmin Ali stressed that the party remains committed to its founding principles and ideals.KUALA PILAH: Bersatu secretary-general Azmin Ali has dismissed calls to dissolve the party and for its members to rejoin Umno, insisting that Bersatu remains a dignified party with a strong track record.Speaking to FMT after campaigning for the Negeri Sembilan election in Juasseh yesterday, Azmin said Bersatu would remain active and contest every election to offer Malaysians an alternative.He also stressed that the party remained committed to its founding principles and ideals."Bersatu is a registered and dignified party with an outstanding track record."It is the only political party brave enough to go solo as the opposition, while others have chosen to cooperate with certain groups," he said, referring to the cooperation between Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Barisan Nasional (BN) for the Negeri Sembilan polls.At the federal level, BN is part of the Pakatan Harapan-led unity government headed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.Azmin was responding to a call by Umno veteran Yussof Latiff on Tuesday for Bersatu to be dissolved and its members to return to Umno in the interest of Malay political unity ahead of the 16th general election.Yussof said Bersatu, which is led by Muhyiddin Yassin, had become increasingly marginalised from mainstream politics due to the party's internal crisis and the turmoil in PN, of which PAS is also a component.On Thursday, Muhyiddin also rejected the call, saying Bersatu would remain his political platform and that there was no reasonable basis for dissolving the party, which was founded nearly a decade ago.The crisis in PN saw PAS sever ties with Bersatu in June, although both parties remain in the coalition.Bersatu is fielding 24 candidates under its logo in the Negeri Sembilan election on Aug 1, including two from Urimai. It claims it was excluded from PN's seat allocation discussions.PN, meanwhile, has reached an understanding with BN, under which the coalitions are contesting 11 and 25 seats respectively.The arrangement has resulted in clashes between PN and Bersatu in several constituencies, including Serting, Ampangan, Paroi, Klawang and Sikamat.