Muhyiddin says party must do more to grow grassroots support

SHAH ALAM, Dec 1 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said party’s inadequate machinery was at fault for its recent by-election losses.

He said the party did not have a presence in every polling district, making it more difficult to campaign.

“When the leaders above give speeches about going to Putrajaya, everyone rises and chants, ‘We will win, and we will go to Putrajaya.’ Our journey to Putrajaya may have begun, but we have yet to arrive.

“Let’s take examples from the by-elections, such as in Kuala Kubu Baru, Nenggiri, Mahkota, and Pulai, where we were directly involved as candidates.

“What did we find? We faced weaknesses at the grassroots level, which became a factor in our defeat.

“Why do we lose? If we look at the statements and data available, we should have won. If you ask how many polling district centres there are, they say 30. But when asked how many branches there are, they answer only seven. There should have been 30 branches,” he said in his closing remarks at the seventh Bersatu annual general meeting here.

With several state elections coming up, namely Sabah, Muhyiddin instructed delegates here to step up their effort in finding more members.

Bersatu currently claims to have 700,000 registered members, with Muhyiddin wanting the figure to reach a million next year.