KUALA LUMPUR — MPs wanting to join Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) have been told to wait for Parliament’s dissolution before joining the party taken over by former PKR leaders, Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
Nik Nazmi, the former Setiawangsa MP, told New Straits Times there are MPs from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Umno interested in joining Bersama.
But they have been advised to wait until Parliament is dissolved “because there are many considerations”.
“This includes the stability of the government. We haven’t overlooked that,” Nik Nazmi was quoted as saying by NST
“We have received queries from elected representatives in PH and other parties expressing interest in joining Bersama, but we told them to stay put for now.
“We are taking into consideration the timing and suitability. It’s not just the four or five PKR MPs mentioned. Many from PH and other parties have asked,” he added.
Nik Nazmi, who was formerly a PKR vice-president and natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, said he and Rafizi, the Pandan MP and former economy minister, had decided to be the first to quit PKR and vacate their seats so as to start Bersama ahead of the general election.
According to Nik Nazmi, Bersama now has 20,000 new members, of which 46% are “fence-sitters”. This showed Bersama’s potential as a “third force”, he added.
An analysis of the memberships showed that people from major parties had joined, with the largest number, 29 per cent, from PKR.
Others came from Umno (6.3 per cent), PAS (5.2 per cent), Amanah and Bersatu (2.5 per cent each), Muda (2.2 per cent) and DAP (1.3 per cent).
By ethnicity, Nik Nazmi said about 62 per cent of Bersama’s membership is Malay, 16 per cent Indian and 15 per cent Chinese.
On May 17, Nik Nazmi and Rafizi announced their departure from PKR and resignations as MPs for their respective parliamentary seats.
PKR MPs who were present at their announcement event included Wong Chen (Subang), Balik Pulau MP Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, Rodziah Ismail (Ampang), S. Kesavan (Sungai Siput), and Zahir Hassan (Wangsa Maju).
Only Wong Chen has openly stated that he would likely contest a seat in the 16th general election on a Bersama ticket, instead of PKR.
GE16 is due to be held by February 2028 but speculation is strong that snap polls will be called earlier. – May 31, 2026