Muafakat Nasional NGO can help soften PN’s image, says analyst

 

Annuar Musa announced the line-up of Muafakat Nasional’s leaders yesterday.

PETALING JAYA: Annuar Musa’s Muafakat Nasional (MN) NGO will likely play an important role in changing Perikatan Nasional’s conservative image to a moderate one, according to an analyst.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said MN would eventually become PN-friendly because the NGO is led by the likes of Annuar and former Umno Selangor chief Noh Omar, who are said to be on good terms with Bersatu leaders.

“It will likely help change PN’s image from one that relies on racial and religious rhetoric to something more moderate but yet still Malay-dominant, closer to Bersatu’s nature,” he told FMT.

He said he considered MN to be more of a social movement formed to strengthen support for PN in the long term.

Yesterday, Annuar unveiled the line-up of MN leaders. They included politicians like former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, Bersatu’s Redzuan Yusof, PAS’ Zuhdi Marsuki, Pejuang’s Khairuddin Abu Hassan as well as celebrities like singer Jamal Abdillah and actor Eizlan Yusoff.

There are three non-Malays in the leadership, namely Chua Hock Kuan, Subash Chandrabose and former Segamat MP Edmund Santhara Kumar.

Awang Azman said the involvement of non-Malays in the NGO would show that PN was able to champion the voices of other ethnic communities.

He also said MN would likely affect Umno’s standing if the Malay-based party did not present a counter-narrative to show that it was moderate and progressive. It would need the help of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional to do this.

Another analyst, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara, said it was too soon to gauge if MN would be effective in toppling Umno or benefiting PN.

He told FMT he had no doubt the NGO was politically motivated.

“I think this is the usual modus operandi,” he said. “First, create an NGO and after it gets traction in terms of membership, apply to become a political party or join other parties.”

He noted that Parti Bangsa Malaysia had similar beginnings.

He said the establishment of MN could also be a strategy by Annuar to garner support with the backing of thousands of members so that he would have the clout to join PN.

On Monday, Annuar, the former Ketereh MP, claimed that the NGO received more than 10,000 online applications hours after it opened for registration.

When contacted, Khairuddin maintained that MN was a non-partisan group with no political inclinations.

“Yes, it comprises many types of personalities, including members of political parties, but we are all coming together with the common goal of uniting the Malays and, at the same time, upholding the rights of the non-Malays as enshrined in our Federal Constitution,” he said. - FMT