PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has insisted that Perikatan Nasional (PN) complied with its constitution in managing the coalition, disputing Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s claim that its deregistration was caused by leaders’ failure to do so.
Hadi said relations among PN’s component parties remained strong, except for one party that had ‘distanced itself and changed direction’, in an apparent reference to former ally Bersatu.
He said PN’s deregistration appeared to pre-empt a court decision, restrict the coalition’s democratic rights and reflect the government’s growing fear.
‘All further moves, including preparations for the Melaka state election and a court challenge to the decision, will be made together with like-minded PN component parties,’ he said in a statement.
Muhyiddin says deregistration is a reminder to leaders
Yesterday, Muhyiddin said the deregistration should serve as a reminder to coalition leaders to lead fairly and not abuse their power or positions.
The Registrar of Societies (RoS) said it decided to deregister PN after finding that the coalition’s Oct 12 response to a show-cause notice dated Sept 22 had failed to rebut the grounds for deregistration.
However, the RoS did not disclose the grounds for its decision or PN’s arguments in response to the notice.
Bersatu complaint triggered RoS action
The RoS acted on a complaint by Bersatu, which alleged that the party had been denied the right to attend, speak and vote at a PN Supreme Council meeting on July 16.
PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar questioned the timing of the decision, noting that PN’s earlier application to stay the suspension of its activities had yet to be heard in court.
PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan subsequently said the coalition would challenge the deregistration and seek a stay of its implementation.
