PETALING JAYA: The Perikatan Nasional (PN) brand may come undone if the dispute between PAS and Bersatu is not resolved in a mutually beneficial manner, says Ilham Centre chief researcher Yusri Ibrahim.
He said the crisis engulfing the opposition coalition had now entered a “guerrilla war” phase, in which both parties had their own strengths to defend their positions.
He said PAS had the upper hand as PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan were from the party, giving it the authority to sign election candidacy letters on behalf of the coalition.
However, he said Bersatu had the advantage of understanding PN’s legal framework, as the party was responsible for drafting the coalition’s constitution and was familiar with the powers of its Supreme Council and president.
“Any decision to expel Bersatu from PN, admit Reset (Parti Wawasan Negara led by Hamzah Zainudin) as a component member, and finalise the coalition’s election candidate list is all governed by the PN constitution.
“Any process or decision deemed to be, or interpreted as, a violation of the PN constitution will be fully exploited by Bersatu,” he said in a statement.
Yusri said Bersatu had the option of lodging a complaint with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), which could investigate the matter and even temporarily suspend PN if the complaint was found to have merit.
“If the situation becomes more serious and no resolution is found, the worst-case scenario is that PN could be dissolved or deregistered by the RoS.
“In this case, Bersatu has nothing to lose. If it cannot have PN, it will not allow PN to fall into someone else’s hands,” he said.
PN’s crisis followed the change in the Perlis menteri besar position, which eventually led to the termination of cooperation between PAS and Bersatu and has since escalated into efforts to remove Bersatu from the coalition.
Confirming that the matter would be discussed at a PAS meeting tonight, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the expulsion of a party from PN would depend on the majority decision of PN’s component parties, which include Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday that the party remained in PN and would contest the election using the coalition’s logo.
