Utusan Malaysia reported that the country’s sole Orang Asli MP, and a member of Umno, said he had learnt that the Registrar of Societies had approved the formation of such a political party.

Ramli, who is also the Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker, said the newly-formed party would clearly look for members from the 217,000 or so Orang Asli folk in the country.

“For me (the formation of this new party) is ‘unhealthy’ as it will divide the Orang Asli community,” he said after attending a programme featuring Orang Asli leaders in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

“All this time, around 90% of the Orang Asli (community) have been supporting Barisan Nasional, and they have benefited from development (that BN has brought).”

He also said any division within the community would lead to the decline of its political power.

“Whether we like it or not, the Orang Asli are too few and don’t have much voting power. Therefore, it is better that they stick with the big party so that they can decide together on policies that would benefit them,” he said.

Ramli also said his appointment as the chairman of a secretariat to look into the economic development of the Orang Asli community by the government would enable him to plan various programmes for the community.

He said he was focussing on ending leakages in government allocations and projects meant for the community.