New party will only divide Malays further - Rais Yatim

The move by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to set up another Malay-based political party will further split the Malays in the country.

Negeri Sembilan Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim said that this is because there are already quite a few Malay-based political parties, adding that the basic formation on Dr Mahathir’s new party was also less clear.

“In reality, to establish a political party is not easy and it takes time ... and besides, why would Tun want to establish another Malay-based political party as he has already led Bersatu (which he founded) before. So, I think the best thing for him is to return to Bersatu or UMNO.

“Personally, I think the setting up of a Malay-based political party has no basis anymore as we all want to find unity. We respect him (Dr Mahathir) when it comes to being innovative but this is not the case,” he said.

Rais, who is also the Yayasan Budi chairman and founder, said this to reporters after attending the ‘Serlahan Budi’ photography competition prize presentation ceremony at Taman Teluk Cempedak here yesterday.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir announced the formation of a new party that is not aligned to either Pakatan Harapan or the Perikatan Nasional.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, Rais said that he had formally submitted an application to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to enforce a ban on the use of abusive and rude language during the Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“If we continue to behave like this, students and leaders at the lower level will emulate such behaviour which will eventually cause the country to be known for its leaders who behave badly,” he said.

Apart from that, Rais also said that a Jawi script working committee was established by his party to implement various programmes to revive and cultivate the traditional script.

“The implementation is expected to be carried out ahead of Malaysia Day. We want to popularise Jawi script by holding various competitions such as composing in Jawi, making posters and street names," he said.

-- BERNAMA