Muhyiddin exit seen as step towards BN-PN ‘marriage’

 

Muhyiddin Yassin with party leaders of Perikatan Nasional at a press conference last week. Hamzah Zainudin is at the far right. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A change in Bersatu’s leadership may well be the catalyst for Perikatan Nasional to reclaim Putrajaya through a new alliance with Barisan Nasional, says a party insider.

A Bersatu leader who wished to remain anonymous said PN had missed the opportunity to form a government after the general election last month because coalition chairman Muhyiddin Yassin was adamant in becoming prime minister.

“Umno knows that Muhyiddin wants to finish the party off, so how can they work with PN?” the party insider said.

The source said many in Bersatu believe Umno may be more open to working with them if it was led by a more pragmatic leader like party secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin.

“A Hamzah-led Bersatu could work with both Umno and PAS. The key to Umno’s acceptance is that Hamzah, unlike Muhyiddin, doesn’t want to ‘kill’ Umno,” the source told FMT.

“He is more open to sharing power (with Umno). The reality is that everyone knows that a Umno-Bersatu-PAS combination would be unstoppable.”

The source also said the next six months would be crucial for a Barisan Nasional-PN “marriage” and the people are looking forward to such a Muafakat Nasional 2.0.

Muhyiddin had declared war against BN in September, saying that the coalition would be PN’s main enemy in GE15 and that PN need not be afraid about facing off against them.

The general election resulted in a hung Parliament as no coalition won sufficient seats to form a government.

PH had 82 seats, including one seat from Muda and five from Sarawak DAP, and had the largest number among the coalitions. PN won 73, with PAS accounting for 49, while BN won 30, of which Umno had 26.

Muhyiddin said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had asked PN and PH to come together to form a government, but PN turned this down.

Hamzah then said PN’s Supreme Council agreed to consider the King’s proposal to form a unity government with PH, but Muhyiddin later shut the door for any cooperation, adding that his coalition will become the opposition. - FMT