Bersatu's status in PN remains undecided as all coalition activities stay suspended

KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's membership status in Perikatan Nasional remains undecided, because all of the coalition's meetings and activities are still halted under a suspension imposed by the Registrar of Societies.

PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said no decision had been made on Bersatu's position pending the court's ruling.

"For now there is no action against Bersatu," he said, according to a report by Utusan Malaysia on Sunday.

The Registrar of Societies issued a notice on Sept 22, before an order suspending all Perikatan Nasional activities took effect on Sept 23 under Subsection 13(2A) of the Societies Act 1966.

The registrar said on Sept 24 that the notice was intended to seek the coalition's explanation of complaints Bersatu had lodged with the department, and was not a decision to cancel Perikatan Nasional's registration.

Bersatu's complaint on Aug 11 included a claim that it had not been involved in the Perikatan Nasional leadership council meeting on July 16.

On Oct 14, the High Court allowed Perikatan Nasional to begin a judicial review challenging the notice, but Judge Datuk Azizan Md Arshad refused an interim stay of the suspension.

The judge set Oct 22 to hear the stay application inter partes, after being satisfied that the questions the coalition raised passed the threshold to be argued at a full hearing.

The applicants are Perikatan Nasional and the secretaries-general of its component parties, including Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, while the respondents are Registrar of Societies director-general Mohd Zulfikar Ahmad and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

They are seeking certiorari to quash the Sept 23 suspension order and the Sept 22 notice stating an intention to deregister the coalition after 30 days, together with a declaration that both are unlawful.

According to Takiyuddin's affidavit, the suspension bars Perikatan Nasional from holding meetings, making decisions, issuing statements, holding rallies or campaigning, and party officials risk prosecution if they breach it.

The Oct 22 decision will also determine whether the coalition can contest the Melaka state election using the Perikatan Nasional logo. Nomination day in Melaka is Oct 31 and polling is on Nov 14.

Takiyuddin, who is Perikatan Nasional secretary-general, said earlier that all component parties could use the PAS moon symbol if the suspension remained in place through the state election. Candidates did not have to contest under their own party's logo, he said, pointing to Pakatan Harapan's use of the PKR logo in 2018.

The dispute between Bersatu and PAS began when PAS announced on June 8 that it was ending bilateral political cooperation with Bersatu following strained relations.

Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin then said the party would remain in Perikatan Nasional on the basis that it was among the coalition's founders.

On June 13, a group within Bersatu led by Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin formed Parti Wawasan Negara, which is now a Perikatan Nasional component party.

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said on Aug 7 that Bersatu's membership had lapsed automatically after Muhyiddin announced a new coalition. Perikatan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said instead that Bersatu remained a member of the coalition and that its status was still being reviewed.

Those two conflicting positions from the coalition's leadership have not been resolved by any formal Perikatan Nasional decision, because the body with the authority to make one cannot itself convene under the suspension.

Wawasan vice-president Wan Saiful Wan Jan said he would propose that Bersatu be expelled once coalition activities resume, but that several technical matters had to be settled first.

PAS and the other component parties have been reported to be working separately from Bersatu, including in preparations for the Melaka state election.

Perikatan Nasional's other component parties are Gerakan, led by Dominic Lau Hoe Chai, MIPP, led by Punithan Paramsiven, and Pejuang, led by Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

Bersatu's position that it remains in Perikatan Nasional is a statement made earlier, and is distinct from a formal coalition decision on the party's membership status, which has yet to be made.