KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): There is no secret agenda in welcoming Members of Parliament from Umno to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), its deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said today.

Mukhriz said the practice does not infringe any laws in Malaysia.

“No, there is no agenda. I see it as something that does not violate any democratic practices. There are no laws preventing any of these Members of Parliament from changing their party. So if anyone is interested in changing his party, we should allow him and not reject his application,” he told reporters at Parliament lobby today.

Mukhriz, who is also the Kedah Menteri Besar, said any Umno MPs who wish to join Bersatu will still have to go through a screening process.

“With Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, it is a given that he is someone that, at any time as soon as he decides he wants to join us, the door is wide open for him. But for others, we need to go through that whole process of understanding their background and all that,” he added.

Last week, Mustapa, who is Jeli MP, announced his decision to join Bersatu — which forms part of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

“We are not sure how many of them are interested and how many will finally really want to join Bersatu. We did not make an invitation, but we have already issued a statement earlier that if any of the Members of Parliament, Umno MPs in particular, who are interested to join PH through Bersatu, we will welcome them. But there are certain conditions that need to be fulfilled before the matter is considered,” said Mukhriz.

"In fact, I have already made it clear that there are some top leaders [from Umno] that we will never even consider joining us," he added.    

Last Saturday, Bersatu Supreme Council member Datuk A. Kadir Jasin claimed that 40 Umno MPs could leave the party to join Bersatu.

When asked whether this move will undermine democracy as there will be a weaker Opposition, Mukhriz assured that there will still be check and balance in the Parliament.

“If you look at the way the Dewan Rakyat is conducted these days, even from among the Government backbenchers they can be quite vocally critical of the Government as and when it is necessary. This is also a form of check and balance,” he said.  

“But of course from the Opposition's standpoint, they want to go all out to prove that the Government is wrong in all matters. So in that sense, there is varying degrees of check and balance depending on whether the MPs are with the Government or the Opposition,” Mukhriz added.