KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders should get back to basics instead of neglecting the fundamentals of the party’s struggle after they are given various positions, says its deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

       “Some of us forget what are we fighting for. In fact, some of us had the practice of doing the things that we had abhorred before we were given titles and positions.

       “We must discard all kinds of weaknesses in our party and go back to basics,” he said.

       Addressing the simultaneous opening of the annual general assembly of the Srikandi and Armada wings here yesterday, Ahmad Faizal attributed Bersatu’s loss of 26 out of 28 seats in the recent Melaka election to a blame game in which the local machinery, poor team spirit and members adopting the old political model were cited as factors that led to the defeat.

       “Don’t be too quick in making any accusations, take time to research and get the overall picture of the situation. We point fingers a lot at each other but forget to look at our own mistakes,” he said.

       He spoke of the tendency to see others make the first move “to make it easier to hold them accountable or blame them” when the outcome turned out poorly. We accept that we were less than successful in Melaka; our outreach to the public needs to be strengthened,” he said.

       Ahmad Faizal urged Bersatu to learn from the Melaka election as he foresees that there would be much uncertainty in the post-pandemic political atmosphere over the next decade.