He said this was obvious as the party led by Muhyiddin Yassin had won 31 seats in GE15, five seats more than Umno, and surpassed the 30 seats won by Barisan Nasional.
“Bersatu does not need to show that it is an alternative to Umno. The people’s impression is that we are better than Umno now,” Wan Saiful told FMT in an interview before he was charged with corruption in relation to the Jana Wibawa programme.
Wan Saiful, who was charged on Feb 21, has since resigned as the Bersatu information chief .
He conceded that he did not expect GE15 to change the fate of Bersatu, which had suffered defeat after defeat in past by-elections.
Bersatu, established in 2016, had been seen as a “second choice” for Malay voters as its leaders were previously Umno members. In GE15, it won 31 seats under the Perikatan Nasional coalition, which captured 74 seats in Malay-majority constituencies.
While it did not match the 82 seats won by Pakatan Harapan, both coalitions did not have the numbers to form the federal government.
“I did not expect such a satisfactory and joyful result (in GE15). It was a good achievement and it symbolised the desire of the people, especially the new generation,” Wan Saiful said.
He said the new generation wanted a government that was clean, stable, caring and had integrity.
Not a racial agenda
Despite its pro-Malay Muslim stance, Wan Saiful said Bersatu did not carry a racial agenda.
He said Bersatu stood by its philosophy of defending the rights of the Malays to ensure the nation’s stability, holding on to the community’s values, having an open economy, helping entrepreneurs, and also ensuring freedom for people to choose their own beliefs.
“This conservative agenda has been with us from the start, we want to continue Tunku Abdul Rahman’s idealism,” he said in reference to the first prime minister of Malaysia.
Elaborating on Bersatu’s agenda to protect the rights of the Malays, Wan Saiful said this agenda took into account that the country would not be stable if the majority felt insecure.
“If we divert from this framework, then it won’t be stable, and when there is no stability, this multicultural nation will bear a negative impact,” he said.