Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia said Faiz’s claim that a “cartel” had influence over the selection of candidates was not implausible.

On Monday, Faiz, a former Bersatu Supreme Council member, quit the party following criticisms over its choice of candidates, saying some belonged to “cartels” while others were “parachute candidates”.

The term “cartel” was commonly used to refer to those aligned to Azmin when he was the PKR deputy president.

Fauzi said the emergence of a “cartel” culture in Bersatu was not unexpected.

“Throughout the years when Anwar (Ibrahim) was in prison, it was Azmin who kept the PKR leadership and rank-and-file together with his organising and caderisation skills,” he said.

This led to Azmin having a huge influence in the party.

Fauzi said it was “only a matter of time” that Azmin would have a similar effect in Bersatu after he and his followers joined the party in 2020.

No cartel in Bersatu, says Supreme Council member

Bersatu Supreme Council member Redzuan Yusof denied Faiz’s claims of a “cartel” in the party.

“It is a cheap shot by Faiz. If there is a cartel, why didn’t he say anything before this? Cartels don’t appear overnight,” he told FMT.

Redzuan said the selection of candidates was made by the party leadership and not any one person.

He said if Faiz was unhappy with the party’s direction or candidate selection, he could have used party channels to air his grievances instead of quitting.

“In any case, if anyone is unhappy with the party leadership, they can always challenge incumbent leaders during party polls. We do not stop anyone from contesting any post,” he said.